The Macau consumption incentive plan will inject up to MOP2.4 billion (US$300.6 million) into the local economy, estimates released today (Monday) by local authorities reveal.

The creation of an electronic consumer card was one of the measures taken by the Government of Macau to relaunch the economy and help residents face the Covid-19 pandemic.

Between May, June and July, each resident of Macau is entitled to MOP3,000 patacas to spend on local businesses. With this measure, the Macau government injected MOP1.8 billion into the local economy.

In a press conference that served to present the interim report of the consumption subsidy plan, the authorities of the territory indicated that, until June 15, the 600,171 residents who joined the program had spent a total of MOP1.46 billion by using the consumer card.

Until June 15, each resident had spent an average of MOP2,481 patacas on the card, which has a total credit limit of MOP3,000.

The Government estimated that this consumption incentive plan could benefit the local economy in an amount between MOP1.8 million and MOP2.4 billion.

Stabilizing the consumer environment, increasing business confidence, relieving pressure from residents, further generalizing, even more, the use of electronic payment instruments, thus improving future development by commercial establishments, was the assessment made by the Government on the use of consumer cards.

According to the report, of the total amount provided by the Macau Government, 24 per cent was spent on the food and beverage sector, while 70 per cent was spent on retail trade.

On the same occasion, the director of the Economic Services Bureau (DSE), Tai Kin Ip, stated that more than 60 per cent of the total amount of transactions was placed in SMEs [small and medium-sized companies].

The results of the questionnaire survey show that more than 60 per cent of retailers and more than 40 per cent of retailers indicated that half or more than half of their turnover came from consumer cards, the government stated in the same press conference.

The Macau Government also noted that the consumer subsidies plan also served to change the habits of payment methods by residents, with a substantial increase in the use of mobile payments.

Since the announcement of the plan, in February, up to May, more than 14,000 mobile payment devices and QR codes were installed in commercial establishments.

In May alone, the authorities stressed, mobile payments rose by 25 per cent and their amount increased by 54 per cent, in relation to the previous period of the epidemic.

This year, starting in August, each resident will also benefit from another MOP5,000 patacas to be credited from the electronic consumption card.

Macau was one of the first territories to identify cases of infection with Covid-19 in late January. The territory then registered a first wave of ten cases, and another of 35, from March.

The city has had no new cases since April 9 and currently has no active cases, after the last patient was discharged on April 19.

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Local consumption incentive plan to inject up to MOP2.4 bln into the economy - Macau Business