The Macau government has pledged an extra MOP10 billion (US$1.25 billion) for financial relief measures for the public and other pandemic-related expenses in light of the current community Covid-19 outbreak, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong announced today (Saturday).
This will bring the total value of financial relief measures to be put forward by the government to MOP20 billion. The administration already said on June 19 that financial support measures in a total of MOP10 billion would be rolled out, including one-off subsidies for employees, self-employed and businesses; an exemption for tourism tax; a fuel subsidy for the taxi sector; and others.
Speaking in the press conference today about the latest pandemic situation of the city, which has reported 1,706 new cases since June 18, Mr. Lei said the measures pledged on June 19 would be gradually ready starting from the first half of August.
The Executive Council completed the discussion of the amendments to the government’s budget for 2022 yesterday (Friday), which indicate an extra allocation of nearly MOP35.16 billion from the city’s fiscal reserve for financial relief measures amid the latest community Covid-19 outbreak. The bill of the revised budget was also submitted to the Legislative Assembly for deliberation yesterday.
It is the second revision to the city’s 2022 budget, which depleted a total of nearly MOP72.75 billion from the fiscal reserve to support local businesses and the general public. Before these two amendments to the budget, the government has already forked over MOP100 billion from the public coffer in the past two years to cover reduced incomes like tax revenue from casinos and extra expenses for the anti-pandemic efforts.
Mr. Lei remarked today the authorities have already consumed MOP167.8 billion from the fiscal reserve since the pandemic started more than two years ago, and the latest budget revision is also to cover the lower-than-expected gaming revenue so far this year. Latest official figures the gaming revenue in Macau only totalled MOP26.27 billion in the first half of 2022, down by 46.4 per cent from a year earlier and only representing over 17 per cent of the pre-pandemic level.
The criteria for the one-off subsidy of MOP15,000 each for employees pledged on June 19 are also relaxed to benefit more workers, the official added, who did not say how many workers could exactly be benefitted from this change though. The income level for employees entitled to the one-off subsidy is now no more than MOP600,000 in total in the 2020-2021 period, compared with the previous requirement of between MOP6,000 and MOP480,000 in the 2020-2021 period.
The authorities announced today the partial lockdown measures will remain from July 18 to late July 22, including the suspension of all non-essential commercial and business activities like casinos. The restrictive measures were first in place in the July 11-17 period to tame the current outbreak.
Listening to the public
“We understand this outbreak presents unprecedented pressure for the public, and the government also shares this sentiment,” the Secretary for Economy and Finance said.
Asked about what new support measures the government will put forward with an extra MOP10 billion, for instance, whether there will a new round of cash handout, Mr. Lei did not provide any details today and only said there would be “general support” for residents staying in Macau in this current outbreak, including the elderly, housewives and children.
The official also stressed the authorities have different plans to support the local economy and the public, which would be adjusted and rolled out depending on the latest development of the local pandemic situation.
“That’s why we didn’t wait till the end of this outbreak to unveil the financial relief measures but we have already pledged measures just a day after the start of this outbreak. And we also keep adjusting these measures,” he remarked.
Concerning the extra MOP10 billion, Mr. Lei said: “This is to showcase the government’s commitment in its fight against the pandemic and its support for the public, as well as enhance the morale of the public amid the outbreak. [I] believe that we can achieve success in our anti-pandemic efforts if we work together.”
He added the authorities “will listen to the opinions from the public” in regards to the new financial relief measures whose details will be announced in due course. He did not comment whether civil servants will be eligible for the measures.
“Our utmost priority now is to keep the outbreak under control and achieve ‘dynamic zero-Covid’,” he added.
