The Macau Government announced today that it will give eight thousand patacas (1,010 euros) to each resident to “relieve the financial pressure” caused by the worst outbreak of covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
From October 28, 2023 until June 30, 2023, each resident will be able to use this amount to make payments, especially in local businesses, with a daily limit of 300 patacas (38 euros).
The funds will be automatically transferred to the mobile payment method or a consumer card that each resident had already chosen in a similar measure, launched in June.
In a statement, the Macau Executive Council said that the subsidy could generate consumption of more than 10 billion patacas (1.26 billion euros), helping to “stimulate local domestic demand and promote economic recovery”.
At a press conference, the director of Macau Economic Services, Anton Tai Kin Ip, said that the measure represents an investment of 5.92 billion patacas (745.6 million euros).
In previous rounds of this subsidy, 23% of the amount was spent on restaurants, followed by supermarkets, Anton Tai said. The measure has “very high effectiveness” and “is very easy”, he stressed.
In August, the Macau Chinese General Trade Association suggested that the amount for consumer cards be extended to the entire population, including 3,000 patacas (380 euros) for non-resident workers.
But today Anton Tai said the government preferred “to give priority to residents”.
At the end of July, almost 158,000 non-residents from abroad lived in Macau, who have been removed from any government support throughout the pandemic.
The measure announced today is part of an assistance plan, worth a total of 10 billion patacas, announced by the Government in July, and which includes a program of “monetary support to workers, self-employed professionals and operators of commercial establishments”.
In July, Macau’s parliament approved a review of this year’s budget, which provides for the use of funds from the territory’s extraordinary reserve, in the amount of 35.1 billion patacas (4.5 billion euros).
Macau was hit in June and July by the worst outbreak faced since the beginning of the pandemic, which infected more than 1,700 people and caused six deaths, and which led the authorities to impose a partial confinement in the territory, which included the closure of most commercial establishments. .
