Corruption crackdown deters Macau gamblers

Shanghai

MACAU gaming revenue almost halved in February as a crackdown on corruption in China kept high-stakes gamblers away during the peak Chinese New Year holiday period.

Gross gaming revenue in the world's biggest gambling hub fell 49 per cent to 19.5 billion patacas (S$3.33 billion) last month, Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said. This compares with the median estimate for a 54 per cent decline according to eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Macau last year posted its first annual decline in gaming revenue, as VIP gamblers avoided the city amid China President Xi Jinping's anti-graft campaign, and as the country's economy slowed. The industry may face another 8 per cent drop this year, a Bloomberg survey showed, after last …