MACAU: Macau, once a successful gaming heaven, noted a sharp gross gaming revenue drop of 35.3% for the first 11 months of 2015 compared to the same period last year. This data was released by the city’s gaming regulator earlier this month.
The disastrous results of Macau gaming industry affected the total government revenue as well. Therefore, the government’s earnings stumbled for 29.9% y-o-y, whereas the total expenditure, on the other hand, jumped for 17.3%. During the 11-month period to 30th of November the amount by which revenue exceeded spending decreased by 56.9%.
Direct taxes from gaming were MOP78.54 billion or $9.8 billion i.e. almost 77% of Macau government’s revenue in the past 11 months came from its weakened gaming industry. This number, however, is down by 34.7% in comparison to the direct taxes revenue from January to November in 2014.
Macau GDP also fell by 24.2% y-o-y during the quarter to 30th of September. That was the fifth quarter in a row of such decrease. The revenue the government managed to accumulate from January to November this year was about MOP102.17 billion. The total expenditure, in contrast, was approximately MOP62.20 billion.
All these numbers were revealed this Monday by the Macau’s Financial Services Bureau. Among other things, the public could see the capital expenditure of MOP3.47 billion on the hub’s public investment plan, widely referred to as PIDDA.
Macau has been struggling for quite some time now to get back on its feet after a Chinese corruption crackdown scared its VIP players away. Despite billions in new investments and various government measures to boost casino industry, the Asian Las Vegas witnessed revenue decline for 17 months in a row.
