Macau’s Economy To Drop By 6 Percent In 2015

Macau’s economy revolved around its famous casino empire that reportedly made more than 5 times the revenue than Las Vegas. Ever since Beijing launched its anti-corruption crackdown targeting Macau’s casinos, business has dropped considerably and in the process affected Macau’s economy.

Industry analysts predict that Macau’s casinos lost over $100 billion during 2014 and will continue to lose money as Beijing has promised to intensify its anti-corruption crackdown. Recently reports from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) suggest that Macau’s economy will fall by as much as 6 percent in 2015 before picking up once again in 2016 by a margin of 5.3 percent.

In a statement, Macau’s Chief Executive Chui Sai said “Despite the economic development facing great difficulties and challenges at the moment, our economy is generally well-grounded and the growth trend remains unchanged”.

Beijing has asked Macau to diversify its economy and not depend on the casino industry alone to generate revenue and provide employment opportunities for the people of Macau. Chui Sai will follow Beijing’s instructions and look to change the face of Macau from being the biggest gambling hub in the world to a place that promotes tourism, hospitality, education and regulated gambling.

The crackdown on the casino industry has kept customers away and as a result business has been relatively low. Casinos have been forced to terminate a number of employees and the rate of unemployment has risen considerably during the past few months. Macau’s government will invest into these laid off employees by re-training them and providing them with a new set of skills to start a new career.