Macau Yearbook 2013 - Macao Yearbook

Macao Yearbook 2013From September 2002, the Bank of China began to provide deposit, remittance and exchangeservices in patacas in some major cities in Guangdong. The exchange business network has sincebeen extended to cover nearly all provinces and municipalities in mainland China. This move iscertain to increase the usage and circulation of patacas.Foreign Exchange ReservesThe Government consistently adheres to prudent investment strategies for managing foreignexchange reserves and the reserve fund. Provided the balance of international payments remainshealthy and stable, various investment tools may be used to achieve principal-guaranteed growth.Because part of the foreign currency assets held as foreign exchange reserves was transferred toa newly established fiscal reserve, its year-end balance in 2012 decreased by a significant 51.3percent over 2011 to 132.5 billion patacas.Fiscal ReserveA fiscal reserve was established on 1 January 2012, with the Monetary Authority of Macaoresponsible for its investments and management. The initial investment period adopts a generallyprudent approach. The capital of the fiscal reserve comes from the balance of the MSAR’s reservefund as well as the balance of past annual budgets. Balances amounting to 98.86 billion patacaswere transferred to the fiscal reserve as start-up capital, while the remaining 54.2 billion patacaswere transferred from the foreign exchange reserve. The MSAR’s reserve fund was written offfollowing the above transfers. At the end of 2012, the total asset value of the fiscal reserve was100.24 billion patacas, an increase of 1.38 billion patacas on the start-up capital.The fiscal reserve comprises two parts: the basic reserve and the excess reserve. The basicreserve refers to the financial reserves that provide ultimate protection for the Government’s abilityto cover public finances, at an amount equal to 1.5 times the provisions for expenditures of centraldepartments set out in the latest fiscal budget reviewed and approved by the Legislative Assembly.Meanwhile, the excess reserve is used mainly to facilitate the implementation of the Government’spublic financial policies as well as to protect the liquidity of public finances, and is the fiscal reservebalance after meeting the basic reserve requirement.Trade and Investment Promotion InstituteThe Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) is mandated to promote trade andattract foreign investment.External CooperationThe Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) is a member of World Associationof Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) and Asia Trade Promotion Forum (ATPF). In recentyears, IPIM has signed cooperation agreements with trading organisations of various Portuguesespeakingcountries and many provinces and regions of mainland China as well as the trade and174