The government of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) has no plan to revise its gaming tax nor it is considering the issue, said a senior official on Friday.

Secretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen made the remark when asked to comment on the topic brought up by Macao gaming magnate Stanly Ho at a Lunar New Year reception hosted by the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR.

Tam said the government currently is making plans, but is for increasing elderly pensions, which is administered by the Social Security Fund, and lowering the minimum eligible age to 60.

Ho has told reporters earlier that he heard the SAR government is considering lowering the gaming tax as the current 40 percent tax levied on casinos' revenues is too high.

He said: "As a businessman, there is no doubt that I hope to see tax reduction."

Official statistics show that Macao's government revenues have exceeded 50 billion patacas (6.25 billion U.S. dollars) in the last two years, the major part of which comes from surging revenues from gaming tax, property transfer tax and other levies.

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2008)