MOP (Macanese Pataca)

What Is the MOP (Macanese Pataca)?

The Macanese pataca (MOP) is the official currency of Macau. It is frequently given the symbol MOP$, as in MOP$100. Macau was formerly a Portuguese settlement, and turned into a special administrative region (SAR) of China in Dec. 1999.

Not at all like most currencies, the pataca isn't administered by a central bank. All things considered, it is administered by two commercial banks, the Banco Nacional Ultramarino and the Bank of China. It is pegged to the Hong Kong dollar (HKD) at a fixed rate of one Hong Kong dollar to 1.03 Macanese patacas. As of December 2020, 1 MOP (and 1 HKD) is equivalent to US $0.13.

Grasping the Macanese Pataca

The Macanese pataca was first presented in 1894, when it supplanted the Portuguese real at a rate of 450 to 1. Every pataca is partitioned into 100 units, called avos. The name pataca is a Portuguese word that generally translates into "metallic coin". It was widely used to conventionally depict coins utilized all through Portuguese states.

At the point when it was first issued for circulation in Macau in the late 1800s, there was no single currency utilized in Macau. All things being equal, several currencies were utilized, the most conspicuous being the Mexican peso, which was alluded to as the "pataca mexicana." In that sense, the earliest utilization of the term "Macanese pataca" really alluded to Mexican pesos that were being used in Macau.

By 1901, efforts had started to make a single, generally accepted currency in Macau. Keeping that in mind, the Banco Nacional Ultramarino — established in Lisbon in 1864 — was authorized to disseminate banknotes designated in pataca. Starting here forward, the pataca acquired another identity separate from the Mexican pesos (or "Mexican patacas") that came beforehand. To be sure, the Mexican pesos and any remaining foreign currencies were restricted soon after the issuance of these new pataca banknotes.

Dissimilar to most currencies, in which metal coinage commonly originates before paper banknotes, the Macanese pataca didn't receive physical coins until 1952. This is largely on the grounds that Chinese coins from the adjoining Canton Province had previously been widely utilized all through Macau, in spite of the specialists' endeavors to eliminate foreign currencies from circulation.

Today, the value of the pataca is 100% backed by the foreign exchange reserves of the HKD. Its modern banknotes are accessible in divisions of 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 patacas, while its coins are accessible in categories of 10, 20, and 50 avos. Larger coins, in divisions of one, two, five, and 20 patacas, are likewise in circulation.

Somewhere in the range of 2009 and 2019, the MOP's exchange rate has held somewhat stable against the [U.S. dollar (USD)](/usd-US dollar), trading in a scope of somewhere in the range of 7.80 and 8.10 MOP per USD. Its inflation rate has been genuinely repressed during that time span, averaging just under 4% each year.

Macau as a Special Administrative Region

Macau works in basically the same manner to Hong Kong, as a SAR of China. This assignment means Macau is a to some degree autonomous region that operates under the "One Country, Two Systems" principle. This policy permits Macau to keep up with independence and control over the majority of its administrative and economic activities.

Alongside Hong Kong, Macau is viewed as one of China's premier doors to international commerce. Its service sector rules the nearby economy, addressing generally 95% of Macau's gross domestic product (GDP). A rich region, Macau is known as the "Las Vegas of Asia" and rakes in more than US$50 billion in GDP, largely powered by the travel industry, gambling, and service industries. Macau is viewed as a tax haven, principally for occupants of Asian and Oceanic countries.

Features

• While Macau was formerly a Portuguese province, it was moved to China in 1999, however holds a large degree of economic independence.
• The Matacase pataca (MOP) is the official currency of Macau, a special administrative region of China.
• Its value is completely backed by foreign exchange reserves of the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and keep a peg to the HKD of 1:1.03.