MACAO, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Macao's foreign exchange reserves stood at 242.2 billion patacas (around 30 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of March 2026, down 0.5 percent from the previous month, the Monetary Authority of Macao said on Wednesday.

The reserves at end-March 2026 represented 10 times the currency in circulation or 87.6 percent of the Macao pataca M2 at end-February 2026, the monetary authority noted.

Meanwhile, the trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca rose 0.89 points month on month but dropped 4.85 points year on year to 100.3 in March, implying an overall appreciation against major trading partners' currencies from the previous month, but a depreciation compared with a year earlier. ■