Aug. 31, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Macao's foreign exchange reserves hit US$17.63 billion at the end of July, according to estimated figures released by the Monetary Authority of the Special Administrative Region on Friday.

The July figure indicates a year-on-year growth of 17% compared with last July, but a dip of 0.8% when compared with the June figure.

Macau's foreign exchange reserves for July were 30 times the currency in circulation in the period. They accounted for 243.4% of the pataca part of M2, the broad money supply, according to the Monetary Authority.

Meanwhile, the trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the strength of the domestic currency against the currencies of Macao's major trading partners, stood at 90.44 in July, down by 0.11 points month on month but up 3.84 points year on year, said the Monetary Authority.