Macao's balance of payments records surplus of $2.66b in 2020

MACAO - Macao's overall balance of payments (BOP) in 2020 preliminarily recorded a surplus of 21.3 billion patacas, the special administrative region's monetary watchdog said here on Thursday.

The Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) said in its latest report that the current account surplus amounted to 23.7 billion patacas and financial non-reserve assets showed a net increase of 31.9 billion patacas.

The BOP, which comprises the current account, the capital account and the financial account, is a statistical statement that summarizes the external transactions of an economy with the rest of the world.

The AMCM report said exports of goods increased by 129.3 percent year on year while imports of goods rose marginally by 0.1 percent. As a result, the merchandise trade deficit narrowed from 84.0 billion patacas in 2019 to 64.6 billion patacas in 2020.

Service exports fell by 75.3 percent, mainly attributable to falling exports of travel services as affected by COVID-19, while service imports also dropped by 36.3 percent. Therefore, the services account surplus fell from 310.0 billion patacas in 2019 to 60.4 billion patacas in 2020.

The primary income account, which reflects cross-border flows of factor income, recorded a net inflow of 40.1 billion patacas in 2020.

The secondary income account, which comprises current transfers between Macao residents and non-residents, recorded a net outflow of 12.2 billion patacas in 2020.

As the invisible trade surplus and the net inflow of primary income offset the merchandise trade deficit and the net outflow of secondary income, the current account recorded a surplus of 23.7 billion patacas in 2020, down by 127.8 billion patacas from 2019.

Financial non-reserve assets registered a net outflow of 31.9 billion patacas in 2020, representing a decrease of 46.9 billion patacas compared to the net outflow in 2019.

Reserve assets in the financial account, after price, exchange rate and other adjustments, rose by 21.3 billion patacas as compared to an increase of 12.1 billion patacas in 2019, reflecting that the overall BOP stayed in surplus.

Reserve assets in the financial account record the net change in Macao's foreign exchange reserves held by the AMCM. (1 pataca equals 0.125 US dollar)