Macau gambling decline continues

For the 26th month running Macau’s gambling revenue declined in July 2016, according to official figures released Monday by the regulator.

The Reuters news agency reported that gambling revenue in the southern Chinese territory fell 4.5 percent year-on-year to 17.8 billion patacas ($2.2 billion) – at the lower end of analysts’ expectations of between 4 and 8 percent.

Compared with the 8.5 percent decline recorded in June 2016 (see previous report), the July figure was however an improvement.

The protracted plunge in Macau revenues follows a Chinese government clampdown on corruption, targeting conspicuous spending by public officials. Slowing economic growth on the mainland – home to the majority of customers – has also hurt business, Reuters notes.

Macau’s top leader, Fernando Chui, has taken an upbeat approach to the crisis, saying he expects the gambling hub to post positive growth next year following the opening of two multi-billion-dollar resorts over the next two months, and executives from Sands China and Wynn Macau said last week that growth had picked up considerably over the past month due to an increase in visitors to the gambling island and mass market spending.

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