The new edition of the “Community Consumption Grand Prize 2026” will run until June 18, in a joint operation by the Macao SAR Government and the Macau Chamber of Commerce, offering consumption benefits worth a total of around MOP 400 million. After two rounds last year, the programme’s return shows that the government continues to view domestic consumption as a tool to support local commerce.
This year’s edition also introduces operational changes. The coupon draw will take place between Friday and Sunday, while their use will be restricted to weekdays, from Monday to Thursday. According to the government, the adjustment aims to “spread consumption periods, allowing the benefits to reach more SMEs of different types, enhancing the overall leveraging effect.”
Data from the round held between September and November 2025 helps explain the new design. According to official figures, 61% of respondents said they shifted part of their weekend cross-border spending back to Macau, particularly on groceries, restaurant meals, and purchases of food, fruit, and vegetables. The utilisation rate of the MOP 200 coupon was the highest, at close to 95%. The spending distribution was divided among retail, catering, and other services in a ratio of 6:3:1.
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However, there was also a side effect: the use of prepaid consumption. Economist Henry Lei notes that in previous rounds, the “short timeframe to use the coupons led many residents to channel discounts into advance purchases, favouring larger operators and limiting the impact on other SMEs.”
This explains the government’s renewed warning against the practice and the view that the new model may help correct distortions. Even so, the economist warns: “Regulating prepaid consumption through the ‘Consumption Grand Prize’ will become a new challenge for the relevant authorities, increasing the programme’s administrative costs.” Henry Lei also suggests a technical adjustment: “splitting higher-value coupons into MOP 50 vouchers,” making them easier to use and reducing incentives for prepaid consumption.
Less government, more associations
Samuel Tong, president of the Macau Association for the Study of Political Economy, notes that market stimulation “cannot depend solely on the government” and calls on “merchants and community associations” to run their own promotional campaigns in coordination with the programme.
The academic remains cautiously optimistic about the local economy this year, noting that Macau still “relies mainly on the export of tourism services.” With gaming revenues “satisfactory” and visitors mainly from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, he sees room for stability, although he stresses that everything will depend on the “evolution of the global economic environment.” “If market trends change, I believe the government will also introduce timely measures,” he told PLATAFORMA.
For his part, Henry Lei distinguishes the current model from the former “Consumption Card” and highlights that the “Grand Prize” relies mainly on a “leveraging effect” to stimulate local demand.
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As such, he says, it tends to be launched during low seasons, in a more targeted way to support small and medium-sized enterprises. The short duration of each round — about two months — is also intentional: “It helps avoid peaks in consumption and tourism and reduces the risk of pressure on prices and inflation,” he explains to PLATAFORMA. At the same time, it allows for “greater consumer participation” and gives the government room to “evaluate results.”
It is within this framework that Henry Lei rules out indefinite continuation. Created to support SMEs during periods of weaker consumption and tourism, the programme is inherently cyclical. “When economic recovery benefits the majority of residents, consumer confidence improves, and the global business environment shows positive signs, the ‘Consumption Grand Prize’ will have fulfilled its role.”
From the “Consumption Card” to the “Grand Prize”
Since 2020, when the pandemic began affecting Macau, the government has introduced several measures to stimulate domestic consumption, starting with the “Consumption Card” and later the “instant discount.” After the pandemic, in the fourth quarter of 2024, the “Consumption Grand Prize for the whole city” was launched for the first time, using electronic coupon draws to encourage residents to spend in Macau. In the second quarter of 2025, the programme was reinforced with additional instant discounts for the elderly. According to official data, the “National Games Community Consumption Grand Prize” held in the fourth quarter of 2025 lasted 13 weeks and distributed MOP 462 million in electronic coupons. The amount actually used reached MOP 408 million, generating approximately MOP 1.645 billion in consumption. Retail accounted for 60.6% of this total, followed by catering at 27.4%, and services and other sectors at 12%.
