There are three major reasons for the increase in foreign reserves: 1) Macao's foreign trade has remained strong, 2) income from Macao's tourism industry has risen and 3) the balance of the monetary authority's foreign reserve investments has increased.
The gross income from the Macao Monetary Authority's foreign reserves in 1999 was nearly 11.1 billion patacas and the net surplus was 145 million patacas.