The government will not come up with “correct” figures in the revised forecast of Macau’s total game revenue (GGR) for the rest of the year, Treasury Secretary Lei Wai Nong said.
Although the GGR results so far in 2022 were much worse than expected, the government expects the second half of this year to be a “golden age” for Macau’s tourism industry, as long as the overall situation of Covid-19 continues. I said that I am doing it. It is stable in mainland China.
Ray gave a lecture after attending the opening ceremony of the 4th Macau Comprehensive Tourism and Leisure Enterprise Vocational Skills Competition 2022 held at MGM Cotai.
Ho Iat-seng said on Monday that the government’s initial forecast for this year’s GGR was 130 billion MOP, as Macau’s gaming industry was hit hard by the economic impact of local Covid-19 infections in different parts of the mainland. “Surely,” he said. China in the last few months. As a result, Mr Ho said the government would submit another 2022 budget amendment bill to the legislative assembly later this year.
Ho added that the amount of the revised GGR forecast would be valued by Ray.
In the first five months of this year, Macau’s GGR fell 44% year-on-year to 23.79 billion mops. That’s 18.3% of the government’s 130 billion mop forecast.
At the end of last year, the government predicted that Macau’s GGR would reach 130 billion mops in 2022, but the first five months of this year’s GGR “was somewhat different from the government’s estimates,” Ray said. Said.
After Ray showed relatively good performance in the first two months, the March GGR began to be adversely affected by “uncertainty due to changes in the overall situation of Covid-19 in mainland China.” Said.
As a result, Mr Ray said the government expects to submit a 2022 budget amendment bill to Congress later this year. Parliament passed the government’s first budget revision bill this year in April.
As long as the overall situation in Covid-19 in mainland China is more stable, local governments will expand the range of visitors, extend their stay in Macau, and step up campaigns to attract them to visit Macau again. He said. ..
Ray said the government will not come up with “exact” amounts in the revised GGR forecasts for the rest of the year.
The policy secretary emphasized that Macau’s economic performance is “closely linked” to visitor numbers, and as long as the situation in Covid-19 in mainland China and other neighboring regions continues, the government will leverage various channels. He added that it would attract more visitors. Stable.
In related news, Ray emphasized that the government would not interfere with commercial decisions regarding whether to terminate the operation of satellite casinos. He added that in general the government wants to keep existing satellite casinos running to maintain Macau’s economic “momentum” and mitigate unemployment.
Ray said that whether a particular satellite casino will continue to operate is a commercial decision based on an assessment of Covid-19’s situation and its impact on the local economy, and has nothing to do with the government’s amended bill for the gaming industry. I emphasized that there is no such thing.
Observers from various gaming industries say they expect about seven of Macau’s 18 satellite casinos to close this year.
At the end of the first quarter, Macau had 42 casinos, four of which (all owned by SJM) were shut down, according to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. This figure consists of both casinos owned and operated by 6 game operators in Macau and 18 satellite casinos in the city owned and operated by third party operators. report.
