Macau, China, 17 March – The chief executive of Macau, Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said Thursday that the government would grant each permanent resident of Macau a subsidy of 6,000 patacas (US$750) to help the population deal with the global financial crisis.

Ho, who was speaking at the Macau Legislative Assembly, also said that non-residents would receive 3,600 patacas (US$450).

In 2008 the government granted permanent and non-permanent residents subsidies of 5,000 patacas (US$625) and 3,000 patacas (US$375), respectively to support the over 500,000 residents to face the world economic crisis that also affected Macau, according to news agency MacauNews.

The Macau government in 2008 spent around 3.2 billion patacas (US$400 million) on subsidies to the population.

Edmund Ho said that distributing the subsidies, in the form of cheques, would likely begin in May and noted that the government proposal to make the subsidy official would be analysed next week by the Executive Council and later submitted for appreciation and approval by the Legislative Assembly.

As well as the 6,000 patacas due to permanent residents – those that have resided in Macau for seven or more consecutive years – Ho also announced the issue and distribution of health coupons worth around 500 patacas (US$62.5). (macauhub)