MACAU: At a press conference, Macau’s chief executive Fernando Chui Sai said the government expects casino revenue to fall 12% next year to 200 billion Macau pacata and made no mention of changes in the Chinese visa scheme much speculated by the market.
The government’s budget forecast of 12% decline is well below the 5% increase expected by the street, although the government did say its forecast was “conservative and aims to maintain stability.”
There was not much news at the press conference. The Macau government said it would raise civil servants’ salaries by 2% next year versus 6.8% in 2015, possibly putting less pressure on the casino workers’ wage hike, and would improve regulation towards the gaming industry. The government also said it would try to diversify towards non-gaming sectors, just like what it had said in the past.
