Macao People Score Dynamic Nonlocal ConsumptionMacao people report stable spending in local market, while their consumption went up by big margins in other places in the year 2000, according to the latest official statistics.Figures released Wednesday by the Statistics and Census Services show that the local consumption of Macao residents remained at about 17.6 billion patacas (2.2 billion U.S. dollars), while the nonlocal spending jumped 16.2 percent year-on-year to 2. 16 billion patacas (270 million U.S. dollars) last year, mostly due to the brisk consumption in China's inland. Macao's aggregate consumption hit a record of 21 billion patacas (2.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 1997, while it has been on the decline since then. The nonlocal consumption, however, started to pick up in 1996, increasing by more than 100 million patacas (12.5 million U.S. dollars) each year, the source said. Economists note that Macao's economic recovery is expected to give an impetus to the consumption market in general. Macao's GDP registered a 4.6 percent growth last year, following negative increases in four straight years. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |