Macao's GDP expected to grow 10 pct this year

Macao's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate is expected to stand at around 10 percent this year, local media reported Thursday.

The Macao Post Daily quoted Tam Pak Yuen, Secretary for Economy and Finance, as saying that he is "fully confident" that the local economy will reach the 10-percent target which he set at the start of the year.

The gross receipts generated by the pillar gaming industry so far this year were "quite good," the policy official told the newspaper.

The gaming receipts reached a record 13.54 billion patacas (1. 69 billion U.S. dollars) in the third quarter.

Tam also predicted that the gaming receipts will accomplish a year-on-year rise of 14 to 15 percent this year, according to the newspaper.

Macao, with a population of 503,000, saw a GDP per capita of 24, 274 U.S. dollars last year.

Source: Xinhua