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The Secretary for Security, Mr Cheong Kuoc Va, said the public security forces had fully co-operated with the instructions of the Election Commission of the Legislative Assembly to ensure the security of the election. Speaking to the press after voting, Mr Cheong urged the votors to exercise their civic rights and take part in today’s Legislative Assembly Election.
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The Public Prosecutor-General, Mr Ho Chio Meng, said today that the Public Prosecutions Office had received 14 election bribery cases which involving more than 20 suspects. Mr Ho spoke to the press after casting his vote, saying that the voting procedure was smooth and the polling station operated in an orderly manner.
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The Commissioner Against Corruption, Mr Cheong U, said the Commission had made all the necessary arrangements and inspectors stationed at different districts would act immediately should they discover any irregular activities or election bribery. Speaking to the press after casting his vote, Mr Cheong said the Commission had received 231 counts of complaints as of 18 September, of which four of them required further investigation, showing a drop of 70% comparing to the previous Legislative Assembly Election in 2005. These cases will be transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office should there were any unlawful deeds, he said. He expressed gratitude for the public and candidates’ support in promoting a clean election. The Commission will continue to strive to enhance the quality of elections and promote good citizenship.
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The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, today urged voters to vote on today’s Legislative Assembly Election 2009. Speaking to the press after casting her vote, she urged the voters to exercise their civil rights and participate in the building of an even better Macao.
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The Chairman of the Election Commission of the Legislative Assembly, Mr Fong Man Chong, said today that computer system failure had occurred temporary at three polling stations due to the quantity of data flow. Now the operation of the system had been back to normal. Mr Fong and other members of the Election Commission of the Legislative Assembly visited the polling stations this morning.
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The Legislative Assembly Election 2009 will be held tomorrow. The fourth-term Legislative Assembly will be consisted of 29 members, 12 of whom will be elected directly, 10 indirectly and seven appointed by the Chief Executive. In accordance with the Legislative Assembly Election Law, the Chief Executive will appoint the seven legislators within 15 days after receiving the general counting result. All permanent residents aged 18 or above registered by the end of 2008 may cast their vote in the direct election. The number of registered voters totalled 249,886, an increase of 13.25% comparing to the previous Legislative Assembly Election. Its votor turnout rate was 58.39%. A total of 28 polling stations across Macao, Taipa and Coloane will be opened from 09:00 to 21:00. Voters may vote at a designated polling station nearby their residence. Voters should bring their permanent resident identity card to the designated polling station for identification. They should vote by using the chop provided and stamp a ‘tick’ on the ballot paper, otherwise the vote will be considered as void.
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The Government today announced plans to expand the social security system to ensure all residents have some money when they retire. The expansion will cover all permanent residents aged 22 or above, whether they are homemakers, self-employed businesspeople or unemployed. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said the new system would be implemented once it is approved by the Legislative Assembly. The Government will also open a savings account for permanent residents aged 22 and above, and deposit a sum of money in it, to set the ground for the introduction of a mandatory central provident fund, to encourage employers and employees to save for their retirement, said Mr Tam. The sum to be deposited into each account would depend on the surplus of the fiscal year 2008, and likely in the following years. The Government would introduce the necessary legislation to enhance the social security system, Mr Tam said.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released the results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the second quarter of 2009. The survey covered Wholesale & Retail Trade; Transport, Storage & Communications; Security Activities and Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities, but excluded own-account workers. The survey results were extrapolated according to the information collected from 906 statistical units successfully interviewed. At the end of the second quarter of 2009, Wholesale & Retail Trade had 27,098 paid employees, up by 6.7% year-on-year, with 16,428 working in Retail trade. In June 2009, the average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees rose by 4.2% year-on-year to MOP8,650, with those of Sales representatives and Salespersons amounting to MOP11,010 and MOP7,170 respectively. Transport, Storage & Communications took on 7,709 paid employees, up by 2.1% year-on-year. In June 2009, the average earnings for full-time employees increased slightly by 0.3% year-on-year to MOP14,920. Drivers of passenger/cargo transport by land earned an average of MOP11,880. Security Activities had 3,804 paid employees, up by 0.7% over the second quarter of 2008. The average earnings for full-time employees in June 2009 dropped slightly by 0.2% year-on-year to MOP7,400, with Security guards earning MOP 7,000 in average. Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities had 665 paid employees, up by 5.2% year-on-year. The average earnings for full-time employees in June 2009 increased by 2.1% year-on-year to MOP11,270. At the end of June 2009, Wholesale & Retail Trade and Transport, Storage & Communications reported 1,686 and 295 vacancies respectively, down significantly by 51.2% and 67.6% year-on-year; Security Activities had 480 vacancies, a year-on-year decrease of 1.0%. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, 64.4% of the vacancies in Wholesale & Retail Trade and 51.0% of those in Transport, Storage & Communications required working experience. As regards educational attainment, 42.5% and 59.6% of the vacancies in Wholesale & Retail Trade and Transport, Storage & Communications required senior secondary education or higher, while 85.4% of those in Security Activities required primary education only. Besides Cantonese, Mandarin (59.2%) was the more preferable language skill of the vacancies in Wholesale & Retail Trade.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao released today, for the first time, statistics of bank credit to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Macao. New Lending Approved In the first six months of 2009, new SME credit limit approved by Macao banks increased by 19.7% from the second half of 2008 to MOP6.2 billion. The collaterialised ratio, that is the part of credit limit with tangible assets pledged, stood at 39.3%, down 22.0 percentage points compared with the last survey period. Credit Utilisation As at end-June 2009, the outstanding value of total SME loans reached MOP19.5 billion, with a decrease of 1.4% compared with the end of 2008. By economic sector, “construction and public works”, “wholesale and retail trade” and “manufacturing” posted the largest shares of 41.2%, 17.9% and 11.2% respectively. The share of SME loans outstanding in domestic loans to the private sector dropped slightly by 0.7 percentage points from six months ago to 21.0%. Concurrently, the utilisation rate, that is the proportion of outstanding credit balance to the credit limit granted, declined 4.7 percentage points to 61.1%. Delinquent Loans At the end of June 2009, the outstanding balance of SME delinquent loans rose slightly by 1.06% from six months earlier to MOP0.43 billion. The delinquency ratio was 2.22%, up by 0.05 percentage points. Starting this year, the Monetary Authority of Macao conducts a comprehensive survey of SME credit and disseminates the results on a semi-annual basis.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao released today the credit card statistics for the second quarter of 2009. The total number of personal credit cards in circulation was 336,995 at the end of June 2009, up 1.89% from the previous quarter. The numbers of Pataca (MOP) cards, Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) cards and Renminbi (RMB) cards were 272,889, 55,265 and 8,841 respectively. MOP cards, HKD cards and RMB cards witnessed respective increases of 2.22%, 0.46% and 0.95% quarter-to-quarter. Compared with the same period last year, RMB cards grew 10.64% whereas MOP cards and HKD cards dropped 0.74% and 15.55% respectively.
As at the end of June 2009, credit card credit limit granted by banks in Macao amounted to MOP6.16 billion, down 1.95% from end-March 2009. Credit card receivables reached MOP1.05 billion while the rollover amount totalled MOP0.46 billion, accounting for 43.61% of credit card receivables. The delinquency ratio, i.e. the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables, was 1.17%. In the second quarter of 2009, the credit card turnover edged up slightly by 0.26% from the last quarter to MOP1.53 billion. The cash advance turnover amounted to MOP0.12 billion, accounting for 8.03% of total credit card turnover. Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, dropped 12.03% from last quarter to MOP1.48 billion.
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