The Macau SAR Government saw the amount of gaming tax collected in February fall 24.2% month-on-month to MOP$2.47 billion (US$306 million), impacted by the city’s tight border restrictions and recent COVID-19 outbreaks across parts of southern China.
The February figure was down on the MOP$3.26 billion (US$404 million) collected in January while the combined MOP$5.73 billion (US$710 million) raked in for the first two months of 2022 is down 9.4% on the same period in 2021.
As previously reported by Inside Asian Gaming, the decline reflects an 8.0% year-on-year fall in gross gaming revenue for the first two months of the year to MOP$14.10 billion (US$1.75 billion), with travel impediments heightened by outbreaks in Hong Kong and Zhuhai during the period.
The Financial Services Bureau previously reported a 13.8% year-on-year increase in gaming tax to MOP$33.91 billion (US$4.22 billion) in 2021, although this was far short of the MOP$50 billion (MOP$6.22 billion) the government had originally estimated under its annual budget for the year.
The government’s annual budget predicts gaming tax of MOP$49.76 billion (US$6.19 billion) in 2022.
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