Macau casinos face tough Chinese economy
Deutsche Bank’s chief economist in China issued a report recently saying the country’s gross domestic product is expected to slip in 2009.
That assessment, said Bill Lerner, the company’s leading gaming analyst, is bad news for Las Vegas casino operators doing business in Macau.
Lerner had already forecast a 14 percent decline in gaming revenues coming from China next year, partly due to restrictions on the number of visits by mainland Chinese citizens imposed by the Beijing government. The poor economic forecast could hurt consumer spending, Lerner said.
“Mass market gaming spend will naturally be impacted by a less-favorable-than-expected employment picture,” Lerner said.
As reported in today’s Review-Journal, Macau gaming revenues through November are approximately $12.6 billion, a 36 percent increase over the first 11 months of 2007.
