City leader urges caution in budgeting for 2024

Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has urged his administration to stay cautious in preparing the budget for the fiscal year of 2024, saying that Macau is still in the midst of an economic recovery.

On Tuesday, the city’s leader issued an order through the Official Gazette to all government departments, emphasising the importance of taking into consideration whether their budget expenditures are “compulsory” and “reasonable.”

The budget expenditure should not surpass the amount approved for the 2023 fiscal year budget under the No. 19/2022 bill, Ho stressed.

According to the 2023 budget, the Macau government is expected to make over 105.17 billion (US$13 billion) in revenue, and spend 104.48 billion in total.

All governments will have to submit their proposals for review by 9 October.

Late last year, the Macau SAR Government announced that it had to allocate some MOP35.6 billion from its financial reserves to withstand an expected budget deficit.