The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP190.2 billion (USD23.73 billion) at the end of December 2010. The reserves rose by 4.4% from the revised value of MOP182.2 billion (USD22.78 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP43.6 billion or 29.8%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-December 2010 represented 36 times the currency in circulation or 280.6% of Pataca M2 at end-November 2010.

The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency’s exchange rates against the currencies of Macao’s major trading partners, rose by 0.44 points month-to-month and 0.23 points year-on-year to 89.47 in December 2010.