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Local cafés are very common among consumers in Macao, and in respond to consumers' requests to get more information about prices of local cafés, Consumer Council collected prices of takeaway hot milk tea four times during December 2011 to November 2012. Collected prices of takeaway milk tea ranged from $7.5 to $14.0. Prices of takeaway milk tea from 37 local cafés were collected in the most recent survey in November and the most common price range was $9.0 to $10.0, which was about 60 percent of the surveyed prices; the lowest and highest price collected this time were $7.5 and $14.0 respectively, which was equivalent to a difference of over 53 percent. Prices of takeaway milk tea were collected in all four surveys, and the Council was able to collect comparable figures of takeaway milk tea prices from 31 local cafés. Price adjustment was not observed in 8 of the local cafés while 23 of them had adjusted their prices of takeaway milk tea in the past 12 months. Similar results were found in takeaway hot coffee and egg sandwich. In comparison with data collected in July, 3 cafés adjusted their prices of takeaway coffee and the surveyed prices ranged from $7.5 to $16.0. Further, prices of takeaway toast with butter and egg sandwich had also been increased, though prices of takeaway toast with butter at 3 cafés had been decreased by 8 to 14 percent in the most recent survey. The lowest price collected for toast with butter was $6.0 whereas the highest price recorded was $13.0, which equaled to a price difference of over 100 percent. The current survey also collected prices of canned soft drink (Coke) sold at local cafés. Among the 32 cafés which sold the mentioned product, prices ranged from $4.2 to $13.0, resulting in an average price of $8.4. However, according to the Council's 'Supermarket price survey', prices of the same product sold in over 20 supermarkets ranged from only $3.4 to 4.2, which had an average price of $3.63. Prices of the same canned soft drink differ for over 130 percent in local cafés and supermarkets. Consumers are advised to compare and adjust daily expenditure to save money. In order to ensure consumer rights to access information, F&B outlets are called on to clearly and timely state their selling prices of food and beverage items. Consumers are also advised to actively ask for such prices to protect themselves. The abovementioned survey result is now available on the Consumer Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo).
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the third quarter of 2012. Survey coverage comprises Manufacturing; Hotels & Restaurants; Insurance; Financial Intermediation Activities and Electricity, Gas & Water Supply. This survey excludes the self-employed, as well as insurance agents and brokers not directly employed by insurance companies. At the end of the third quarter of 2012, Manufacturing had 11,074 paid employees, down by 6.2% year-on-year, with those working in Manufacture of Textiles (562) and Manufacture of Wearing Apparel (3,760) decreasing significantly by 30.1% and 17.0% respectively; meanwhile, those working in Manufacture of Food Products (3,173) increased by 7.3%. In September 2012, average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) of full-time employees rose by 11.7% year-on-year to MOP7,750, with Sewing machine operators earning MOP3,900 in average. Hotels & Restaurants took on 67,445 paid employees, up by 16.1% year-on-year. Number of paid employees in hotels increased by 16.8% year-on-year to 44,587. In September, average earnings of full-time employees rose by 7.0% year-on-year to MOP11,500. Waiters/waitresses of hotel and restaurant earned an average of MOP8,110 and MOP6,710 respectively, while Housekeeping staff earned MOP7,550. Electricity, Gas & Water Supply had 1,091 paid employees, up by 2.2% year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees increased by 4.7% over September 2011 to MOP24,530. Insurance took on 458 paid employees, down slightly by 0.2% year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees in September rose by 7.2% year-on-year to MOP20,690. Financial Intermediation Activities had 420 paid employees, up by 8.0% year-on-year. In September, average earnings of full-time employees decreased by 3.5% year-on-year to MOP12,530. At the end of the third quarter of 2012, the Hotel sector reported 2,559 vacancies, down significantly by 51.2% from a year earlier. Restaurants had 2,227 vacancies, while Manufacturing offered 1,332, of which 533 were in Manufacture of Wearing Apparel and 457 in Manufacture of Food Products. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, except Financial Intermediation Activities, the majority of the vacant posts required working experience. As regards educational attainment, 70.0% of the vacancies in Manufacturing and 58.5% in Hotels & Restaurants required junior secondary education or lower; meanwhile, 75.0% of the vacancies in Insurance and 64.3% in Electricity, Gas & Water Supply required tertiary education. Besides Cantonese, 70.0% of the vacancies in Insurance required knowledge of Mandarin and 95.0% required English, while 54.3% in Hotels & Restaurants required Mandarin and 33.3% required English. Employee recruitment rate of Hotels was 9.6% in the third quarter of 2012, while the job vacancy rate stood at 5.5%, down by 6.8 percentage points year-on-year, indicating that some of the vacancies have been filled.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals decreased by 1.2% year-on-year to 2,347,646 in October 2012, and same-day visitors (1,232,327) accounted for 52.5% of the total. The average length of stay of visitors stood at 1.0 day, up by 0.1 day year-on-year, with overnight and same-day visitors staying 1.9 days and 0.2 day respectively. Visitors from Mainland China decreased by 1.4% from October 2011 to 1,445,420, coming mostly from Guangdong Province (669,658) and Fujian Province (66,755); Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme increased by 6.0% to 612,073. Visitor arrivals from Hong Kong (566,342), the Republic of Korea (34,502) and the Philippines (25,541) increased by 1.4%, 26.0% and 1.4% respectively; however, those coming from Taiwan, China (86,274); and Japan (25,562) decreased by 10.1% and 21.6% respectively. Long-haul visitors from Europe (25,339) increased by 3.9%, while those from the Americas (28,643) and Oceania (11,274) decreased by 2.6% and 8.5% respectively. In the first ten months of 2012, visitor arrivals totalled 23,212,331 but the rate of increase narrowed to 0.8% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China (13,904,025), the Republic of Korea (365,937) and Japan (344,629) increased by 5.2%, 10.9% and 9.1% respectively, while those from Hong Kong (5,939,416) and Taiwan, China (903,354) decreased by 6.3% and 13.1%.
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According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the proportion of international business in the local banking sector edged up in the third quarter of 2012. At end-September 2012, the share of international assets in total banking assets expanded to 83.7% from 83.3% at end-June 2012, while the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities grew marginally to 80.3% from 80.2%. Foreign currencies were the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-September 2012, the shares of Pataca (MOP) in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.5% and 3.2% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and Other Foreign Currencies (OFCs) accounted for 39.1% and 60.4% of total international assets as well as 50.1% and 46.7% of total international liabilities respectively. International Banking Assets
At end-September 2012, total international assets went up by 5.2% from a quarter earlier or 19.5% from a year ago to MOP642.8 billion (USD80.5 billion). Within this total, external assets increased by 22.3% year-on-year to MOP493.8 billion while local assets in foreign currencies also expanded by 10.9% to MOP149.0 billion. As a major component of international assets, external loans & deposits advanced by 21.1% to MOP458.3 billion. In particular, cross-border non-bank loans grew by 44.4%. International Banking Liabilities
Total international liabilities increased by 4.8% from three months ago or 22.8% year-on-year to MOP616.4 billion (USD77.2 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies grew year-on-year by 16.3% to MOP313.5 billion and 30.4% to MOP302.9 billion respectively. Foreign currency deposits held by residents and the MSAR government continued to form a major component of international liabilities. This type of deposits grew by 30.8% to MOP283.9 billion at end-September 2012 from MOP217.0 billion at end-September 2011. Concurrently, overseas non-bank deposits expanded by 27.9%. Breakdown of External Banking Assets and Liabilities by Region
The majority of external assets and liabilities were related to the regions of Asia and Europe. At end-September 2012, claims on Hong Kong and Mainland China occupied 33.5% and 26.5% of total external assets correspondingly, while claims on Portugal and Germany took up 11.0% and 2.4% respectively. On external liabilities, Hong Kong and Mainland China accounted for 53.2% and 17.6% of the total respectively while France and Portugal took up respective shares of 5.3% and 3.8%. The compilation of International Banking Statistics follows the methodology advocated by the Bank for International Settlements in order to facilitate Macao SAR's participation in the "Locational International Banking Statistics" project of the international organisation. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao
(Tel：83952532; Fax：28353042)
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The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen, will lead a 19-member official delegation to the 8th Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Co-operation and Development Forum (or PPRD) to be held in Haikou, Hainan, from 28-30 November. Mr Tam and his delegation will attend a cultural show on the evening of 28 November, and on the following day, he will attend the opening ceremony of the Forum where he will deliver a keynote speech. He will also attend the Leader Joint Conference to be held in Sanya on 1 December before returning to Macao. A delegation comprising 70 representatives from Macao's business sector will also participate in the Forum. The Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) regional co-operation, a concept initiated by Guangdong in 2003 and supported by Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, as well as the two Special Administration Regions (SAR) of Hong Kong and Macao (hence dubbed 9+2), aroused much attention. Under the instruction of the CPC central committee and with the support given by relevant national departments, the '9+2' governments work together to boost their co-operation and the PPRD region as a whole, and is achieving steady progress. The PPRD, which comprise provinces from east, middle and west Mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao SARs, covers one-fifth of China's territory, has one-third of the population and boasts more than one-third of economic output (excluding Hong Kong and Macao).
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the usage rate of Information Technology (IT) in the business sector stood at 46.9% in 2011, down by 1.8 percentage points from 2010, caused by a marked decline of 9.0 percentage points in IT usage rate in Industrial Production. Analysed by industry, usage of IT is fully adopted in the Gaming Sector; usage rate in Travel Agencies and Service Sector was 97.3% and 84.1% respectively; however, Restaurant Sector had the lowest usage rate of 29.5%. As regards Internet usage, 84.5% of the establishments or enterprises using IT had Internet connection, and the major purpose included information search (79.6%), purchasing (32.6%) and sales (27.3%). In 2011, there were 146,600 households (84.9% of total) possessing IT devices (desktop computer, portable computer, smart-phone, etc.), up by 1.9 percentage points year-on-year. For the population aged 3 and above, the rate of computer usage (61.8%) and Internet usage (60.2%) increased by 5.5 and 6.4 percentage points respectively year-on-year; those aged 15-24 had the highest rate of computer usage (95.7%) and Internet usage (95.3%). In respect of the location of accessing Internet, 96.1% of those aged 3 and above accessed Internet at home, and 30.0% at workplace; major purpose of accessing Internet included information search and online services (89.8%), communication (85.7%) and web entertainment (76.0%). Survey coverage of usage of IT in the business sector includes Industrial Production; Construction; Wholesale & Retail Trade; Travel Agencies; Hotels; Restaurants; Gaming; Transport, Storage & Communications, as well as Service Sector (Real Estate Management; Security Services; Cleaning Services; Advertising and Conference/Exhibition Organising Services). In addition, usage of IT in households includes individuals aged 3 and above.
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Consumer Council released its latest 'Supermarket Price Survey' dated 19th November. A total of 350 products were surveyed this time and in comparison with last month's records, about 62 percent of the surveyed products, mainly rice, canned foods, snacks, and butter recorded no change in price. A total of 350 items were surveyed in the Council's latest 'Supermarket Price Survey'. In comparison with last month's figures, 111 products recorded no change in price and they included mainly rice, canned foods, beverages and snacks, prices of 106 products had decreased, mainly dairy products, frozen food, and shower gel. Many surveyed canned food items recorded price decrease of 1 to 1.8 percent while prices of half of the surveyed dairy products had decreased by up to 3.4 percent. Total number of products which recorded no change in price or price decreases amounted to about 62 percent of the total number of items surveyed. Cooking oil, household cleansing products, and sanitary & hygienic products recorded minimal price increases. Survey result showed that among the various supermarket chain stores surveyed by the Council, selling prices of over 100 products were found to vary in different branches. Price differences of 2 to 33 percent were observed in most canned food items in which 'Heaven Temple Brand Chopped Pork and Ham/340g' recorded the greatest price discrepancy. Prices of around 20 products were also found to differ in different branches of both Royal Supermarket and Park'n Shop. Consumers are advised to check with the information available on the 'Supermarket Price Information Platform', especially the function of 'Top Ten Price Differences' for the surveyed products and in the platform iPhone and Android apps. The latest 'Supermarket Price Survey' is now available on Consumer Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo), and the 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. The survey is also available free of charge at the offices of Consumer Council, IACM's Iao Hon and S. Domingos Markets, bookstores and libraries. Consumers may also access the resources through WAP channels on their mobile phones. For enquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, new approvals of residential mortgage loans (RMLs) and commercial real estate loans (CRELs) witnessed varied degrees of increase in September 2012. With regard to outstanding balance, both RMLs and CRELs continued to grow. New Lending Approved In September 2012, new RMLs approved by Macao banks rose 5.7% month-to-month to MOP4.7 billion; of which, 88.9% was extended to residents. In terms of value, new RMLs to residents and non-residents increased 6.4% and 0.1% respectively. New RMLs collateralised by uncompleted units (i.e. equitable mortgage) dropped 70.3% month-to-month to MOP70.6 million. The equitable mortgage extended to residents, which accounted for 89.8% of the total, dropped 70.8% while the amount to non-residents also went down by 64.6%. New CRELs expanded 78.1% month-to-month to MOP3.1 billion; of which, 96.6% was granted to residents. In terms of value, new CRELs to residents and non-residents advanced 77.0% and 115.0% compared with the previous month. Outstanding Balances As at end-September 2012, the outstanding value of RMLs reached MOP91.6 billion, an increase of 3.3% from one month earlier. The resident component made up 92.3% of the total. Outstanding RMLs to residents and non-residents grew by 3.2% and 4.8% respectively. Concurrently, the outstanding value of CRELs edged up 1.2% from end-August to MOP65.5 billion. Residents accounted for 91.1% of the loans. Compared with one month earlier, outstanding CRELs to residents grew by 1.9% whereas those to non-residents slid 5.9%. Delinquency Ratios At the end of September 2012, the delinquency ratios for RMLs and CRELs remained unchanged from end-August at 0.06% and 0.09% respectively. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department Monetary Authority of Macao
(Tel：83952532; Fax：28353042)
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI (117.94) for October 2012 increased by 5.19% year-on-year, attributable to rising charges for meals bought away from home. For the 12 months ended October 2012, the average Composite CPI increased by 6.26% from the preceding period; the average CPI-A and CPI-B also rose by 6.46% and 6.47% respectively. In comparison with October 2011, price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+33.73%); Household Goods & Furnishings (+7.68%); and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+7.08%) marked notable increase on account of higher charges for domestic services and meals bought away from home. However, price index of Education and Communication decreased by 3.07% and 0.44% respectively year-on-year. The CPI-A (117.47) and CPI-B (118.53) increased by 5.53% and 5.39% respectively year-on-year. The Composite CPI increased by 0.10% month-to-month, of which new arrival of Winter clothing, higher charges for meals bought away from home and dearer prices of fresh fish and fruits drove up the price index of Clothing & Footwear; and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages by 2.87% and 0.46%. On the contrary, price index of Housing & Fuels; Transport; and Recreation & Culture decreased by 1.00%, 0.70% and 0.45% on account of a raise in Government subsidy on electricity, lower airfare and gasoline prices, as well as reduced charges for package tours. The CPI-A and the CPI-B increased by 0.01% and 0.14% respectively month-on-month. The average Composite CPI for the first ten months of 2012 increased by 6.18% year-on-year, of which price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+30.85%); and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+8.81%) saw notable increase, while that of Communication decreased by 4.76%. The CPI-A and CPI-B for the first ten months of 2012 rose by 6.42% and 6.40% respectively. The 2008/2009-based Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP6,000 to MOP18,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP19,000 to MOP34,999.
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Consumer Council released its latest specific price survey on biscuits. Survey result showed that prices of biscuits were stable and the highest price difference recorded for the same product sold at different retail spots was 33.33 percent. Consumer Council collected 8 brands of biscuits from 20 local retail outlets on 15th November. A general price difference of 10 to 20 percent was recorded for the same brand of biscuit sold at various outlets. 'Garden Cream Wafers/200g', which was sold at $7.2 to $9.6, recorded the highest price difference of 33.33 percent. In comparison with September's data, prices of most surveyed brands remained stable, 4 out of the total surveyed brands recorded no change in price. 'OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies/9x29.4g' recorded price decreases of about 3.4 percent to 15.8 percent in 5 retail spots. The specific price survey on biscuits is now available on Consumer Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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