Macao's foreign exchange reserves soar 32.3% in H1

Macao's foreign exchange reserves at the end of June this year reached 14.74 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 32.3 percent year-on-year, the Monetary Authority (AMCM) of the Special Administrative Region (SAR) announced on Thursday.

The SAR's foreign exchange reserves at end-June 2008 represented 29 times the currency in circulation, according to the AMCM.

The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of local currency's exchange rates against the currencies of Macao's trading partners, dropped by 0.24 points month-to-month or fell 5.03 points year-on-year to 87.00 in June 2008, the AMCM also said.