Will a Change at the Top Benefit Struggling Macau Jurisdiction?

Moving forward in Macau is going to be a transformational process, starting at the top.

In economically challenged Macau, a change at the top hopes to be a refreshing and needed turnabout.

The Change

The stepping down of Paulo Martins Chan from his post at the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) has been confirmed by Macau’s Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance.

Filling a Void

Though he will be returning as prosecutor, Chan's vacation of the top seat in Macau's gaming jurisdiction certainly opens the door for a shift in policy and new approaches to the corona conundrum.

New Leadership

With Adriano Marques Ho tabbed to replace Chan in June, Ho will bring a strong background in regulatory investigative practice to the challenges of restarting the gaming-dependent Macau economy in the era of corona.

Landscape

Macau's struggles of late are no secret, but on paper they indicate just how much recovery has to be done with revenues falling off severely.

Macau Revenues

The Macau government collected only MOP18.48 billion (US$2.32 billion) in tax revenue from the city’s gaming industry in Q1, for a drop of 37.6 percent year-on-year, according to the city’s Financial Services Bureau.

March, the government collected only MOP1.25 billion in direct tax from the city’s gaming industry, off from an original 2020 forecast of a minimum of MOP8.18 billion in gaming tax per month.

Gaming Tax Shortfalls

The tax sum collected for the first quarter from the gaming industry was a shortfall 18.8 percent of the amount the government had budgeted for the whole year, off from a projected functional forecasted pace of MOP98.22 billion for full-year 2020.

With Macau casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) declined 79.7 percent in March year-on-year (MOP5.26 billion), the work begins with recovering from the aggregate Macau casino GGR Q1 2020 take of MOP30.49 billion, a contraction of 60.0 percent year-on-year.

Outlook

While there are no guarantees moving forward nor individuals to blame for past events or current economic slowdowns, the idea of new leadership certainly offers hope for new solutions in Macau, after the entire system was crippled during previous leadership through the draining impact force majeur can have on any leader.