Macau government surplus drops by half to end-April

The Macau government’s fiscal surplus dropped by 54.8 percent in the four months to end-April, as gaming revenue slumped, according to figures from the Financial Services Bureau.

The surplus came in at MOP 20.9 billion ($2.6 billion) compared with MOP 46.2 billion the year earlier.

Direct taxes from gaming were down 34.7 percent to MOP 31.6 billion, while overall government revenue was down 33.6 percent to MOP 37.9 billion. Gaming taxes were by far the biggest component of government revenue.

April GGR slumped by 38.8 percent to MOP 19.16 billion. The data, released earlier this month by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, is slightly more positive than the previous month’s which saw GGR fall 39.4 percent. February was the worst month of the year for the industry as GGR plummeted 48.6 percent.