Inside Asian Gaming

IAG AUG 2022年8月 亞博匯 36 THERE IS NO NORMAL COMING We’ve been hearing the same question repeatedly for 2.5 years, “When will things return to normal?” And the answer from so-called “experts,” yours truly included, has always been the same – some variation on “next year,” “three quarters from now” or “surely this can’t continue.” But these are just platitudes, not based on anything other than assumption, presumption or compunction. The cold, hard truth is there is no end in sight to the economic-zero Macau is suffering. I have given up predicting when Macau will be “normal” again, whatever that means, and anyone who says they know is lying. No one knows. The Chief Executive of Macau predicted in November last year that the 2022 GGR would be MOP$130 billion. He will be way off the mark, with revenue likely to be less than half that amount. Sad moment: Staff close Casino Lisboa on 11 July following an order from Macau’s Chief Executive. 根據澳門行政長官令，工作人員於7月11日關閉葡京娛樂場。 COVER STORY 常態不會來臨 兩年半以來，我們一直聽到同樣的 問題：「何時才會恢復常態？」而所謂 的「專家」們給出的答案總是「明年」 、「三個季度後」、「不會一直這樣下 去」或諸如此類的回答。 但所有這些都只是敷衍之詞，除了 假設、推定之外沒有任何依據。一個殘 酷的事實是，澳門正在遭受經濟零增長 的痛苦尚看不到盡頭。我已經放棄預測 澳門什麼時候會恢復「常態」，不管這 意味著什麼，任何說他們知道的人都是 在撒謊。沒有人知道。去年11月，澳門 特區行政長官曾預測2022年的博彩總收