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Macau fiscal reserve grows 27 percent in 2016

Written by Ben Blaschke

The Macao SAR’s fiscal reserves grew 27 percent in 2016 to MOP$438.7 billion. Comprising MOP$132.8 billion of basic reserve and MOP$305.9 billion of excess reserve, it included a total investment income of MOP$3.3 billion, equivalent to an annual return of 0.8 percent.

“In reviewing the performance track records for the past five years, since its inception in 2012, the Fiscal Reserve has been managed under an effective and prudent strategy for its investments and achieved positive return for the past five years despite varying market volatility,” the Monetary Authority of Macao said in its annual review released this week.

“The Foreign Exchange Reserve, which has also been pursuing a sturdy investment strategy, provided positive return in each of the fiscal years since the return of Macau to the Motherland in 1999 too.”

The 2016 asset allocation of the fiscal reserve included included global bonds with low default risk, equities of medium and large scale enterprises and money market instruments from institutions with high liquidity and creditworthiness.