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The Government will give another 3,000 patacas to every permanent resident and 1,800 patacas to every non-permanent resident in the latest effort to help alleviate the pressure the people faced with inflation. Attending a question-and-answer session of the Legislative Assembly today, Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, said the Government was very concerned with the livelihood of the residents and the pressure they faced with inflation brought on by external factors which Macao had limited options in tackling. Mr Chui explained that the decision for the second round of payment was made after very thorough consideration, taking into account inflation, public opinion, and the surplus in the treasury account. After discussion in the Executive Council, the Government would submit a cash subsidy bill to the Legislative Assembly for the 1.7 billion patacas the latest move would cost. The Government had announced in November last year that permanent residents would be given 4,000 patacas and non-permanent residents 2,400 patacas each. It is estimated that this round of distribution would increase the inflation rate by 0.45 per cent for a short period of time, he said. Mr Chui said the Government would also encourage enterprises to increase wages, while the administration would help solve housing problems of the middle-class, encourage life-long education, establish profession accreditation systems, study further reduction of personal income tax and facilitate the retirement and pension system, he said. The Government would also proactively expand import channels of food, ensure supply and encourage competition to maintain a stable food market.
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With the aim of promoting stability in the long-term development of residential mortgage lending business, the Monetary Authority of Macao (“AMCM”) has implemented since December 2010 the “Guideline on Residential Mortgage Loans”, under which the basic principles and standards for residential mortgage lending, such as loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, debt-servicing ratio, maximum loan maturity and the relevant risk management processes are established, and this guideline is also applicable to equitable mortgage loans on residential properties under construction Taking into account the recent growth of equitable mortgage loans, the increasing supply of uncompleted residential units in the near future and the higher risks associated with such loans than those of ordinary residential mortgages, after consultation with the Macao Association of Banks, the AMCM promulgated further supervisory measures for equitable mortgage loans granted for the purchase of residential properties under construction. That is, regardless of the value of properties, the maximum LTV ratio for equitable mortgage loans granted to Macao residents and non-Macao residents should not exceed 70% and 50% respectively. These tightening measures will come into effect on 21 April 2011and should be applied to all applications under review.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (19th April 16:01 till 20th April 16:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1160 and 0.1300μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (19th April 10:01 till 20th April 10:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1160 and 0.1300μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (18th April 16:01 till 19th April 16:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1178 and 0.1309μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (18th April 10:01 till 19th April 10:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1195 and 0.1309μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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(Macao – 18 April 2011) The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, today led a delegation to Guangzhou for a meeting with the Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, Mr Wang Yang, to discuss taxation issues and hierarchical management regarding the joint development of Hengqin Island as provisioned in the Framework Agreement on Cooperation Between Guangdong and Macao. This is the second meeting between the two sides since the signing of the Framework Agreement last month. Mr Wang said today's meeting was intended to flesh out the implementation of the Framework Agreement and to prepare for tomorrow's joint conference between Guangdong and Macao. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Chui said Guangdong and Macao were striving to lay down details about hierarchical management in the Macao-Hengqin boundary checkpoint, which is essential to the future development of Hengqin Island. When asked about the potential problems of smuggling and tax evation, he said the Guangdong and Macao authorities would join hands in fighting and preventing these kinds of illegal activities. Mr Chui said the Macao government had already asked the central government to give preferential tax treatment to Macao citizens working or living in Hengqin. Regarding the development of the Guangdong-Macao industrial zone, Mr Chui said the Executive Council had approved the establishment of a company to take charge of the issue. At a later date Guangdong and Macao will jointly set up a firm to develop and run the industrial zone, according to Mr Chui. He pointed out that the industrial zone would offer many co-operation projects in the future apart from the Chinese Medicine Industrial Park and he pledged that the government would facilitate Macao people's participation in the development of Hengqin. The government will also help local small- and medium-sized enterprises to seize opportunities in the development of Hengqin, Mr Chui added. The Secretary of Economy and Finance will give media briefings about each stage of the development in Hengqin in future to keep Macao people informed of the opportunities there.
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Comprising business tourism officials from Macau Business Tourism Centre (MBTC) of MGTO and Macau trade representatives from hotels and resorts, convention and exhibition venues, Destination Management Companies (DMCs), event management companies, entertainment suppliers and tour operators, a 32-strong Macau delegation participated in “The 5th Incentive Travel & Conventions Meetings (IT&CM China)”, held at Shanghai Mart Expo from 13 to 15 April. IT&CM China is an annual event which provides a platform for international and leading Chinese players in the business tourism industry to explore exciting business opportunities, generate new sales leads and strengthen existing business partnerships. It was anticipated that some 10,000 business appointments between 253 international and Chinese business tourism suppliers and 344 international and Chinese buyers were conducted this year. Macau is a fast emerging business tourism destination in Asia in recent years. In order to strengthen the development of the business tourism industry and provide timely opportunities for the local trade to network and to do business with their counterparts from Shanghai, as well as the rest of China and the world, participation in IT&CM China could not be better for the facilitation of such kind of communication and regional development. This year, MBTC had a total of 29 pre-scheduled appointments, while on-site inquiries from event planners and incentive travel operators were also demanding according to feedback of the Macau trade. Taking opportunity of IT&CM China, MBTC invited a total of 150 hosted buyers and Macau trade to a networking cocktail at the Macau booth on 14 April, which successfully generated vast attention from the show floor.
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Starting from the first quarter of 2011, the Statistics and Census Service released the new series of Tourist Price Index (TPI) rebased to October 2009 – September 2010. TPI (112.88) for the first quarter of 2011 rose by 14.58% year-on-year; the increment was led by accommodation services that contributed 8.7 percentage points to the TPI increase. Price index of Accommodation (+32.05%); Miscellaneous Goods (+21.49%); Food, Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+10.21%) and Restaurant Services (+7.35%) recorded notable increase, attributable to soaring hotel room rate and charges for restaurant services during the Lunar New Year, as well as dearer prices of food and gold jewellery. On the contrary, price index of Entertainment & Cultural Activities; and Clothing & Footwear decreased by 0.92% and 0.87% respectively. TPI for the first quarter of 2011 increased by 4.74% quarter-to-quarter, of which the price index of Accommodation; Food, Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco; and Restaurant Services increased by 12.43%, 6.21% and 4.73% respectively. On the other hand, price index of Clothing & Footwear decreased by 4.00%. The average TPI for the last 4 quarters ended the first quarter of 2011 increased by 12.45% from the previous period, with marked increase being observed in the index of Miscellaneous Goods (+22.12%) and Accommodation (+21.39%). However, index of Entertainment & Cultural Activities registered a decrease of 0.24%. The 2009/2010-based TPI reflects the price changes of goods and services purchased by visitors. The sections of goods and services of TPI are selected according to the consumption pattern of visitors, namely Food, Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco; Clothing & Footwear; Accommodation; Restaurant Services; Transport & Communications; Medicine & Personal Goods; Entertainment & Cultural Activities; and Miscellaneous Goods.
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Since the law on "Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation" took effect on August 13 2010, Macau Government Tourist Office has waged a total of 121 sanctions and 16 operators who provided accommodation illegally were fined 200 000 patacas each according to the law on "Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation". Two operators did not pay the fine within the statutory period and MGTO has submitted the related cases to the Financial Services Bureau to enforce the collection of the fine. To date, one operator has voluntarily paid the fine of 200 000 patacas within the statutory period.
According to the law, if the operators do not pay the fine within the statutory period, the Financial Services Bureau will enforce the collection of fine. Meanwhile, occupants who failed to fulfill their duty of cooperation were fined 3 000 patacas each. For those who failed to pay the fine within the statutory period, MGTO has notified the Financial Services Bureau to enforce the collection of fine and informed PSP to deny reentry of the involved persons into Macau if they are non-residents.
The Cross-departmental Working Team will carry on its operation to crack down illegal accommodation. Staff of Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) continues to check the premises to ensure they remain sealed and supply of water and electricity suspended. MGTO stressed that damaging the seal and resuming supply of water and electricity is a criminal offence which will be submitted to judicial entity for follow up.
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