2010-08-17 10:45

MACAO, August 16 - The preliminary estimate of Macao Special Administrative Region's foreign exchange reserves amounted to 165.7 billion patacas ($20.72 billion) at the end of July, 2010, the Monetary Authority of Macao said Monday.

The reserves for July rose by 1.2 percent from 163.7 billion patacas ($20.42 billion) for the previous month, and, when compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by 17.7 percent, the agency said.

Macao's foreign exchange reserves at the end of July 2010 represented 33 times the currency in circulation at the end of June 2010.

The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency's exchange rates against the currencies of Macao's major trading partners, fell by 1.04 points month-to-month but increased by 0.81 points year-on-year to 91.25 in July 2010, the Monetary Authority said.