Macau's casino industry will likely see record gross revenues of 83 billion patacas (US$10 billion) this year, an increase of 46.5 percent over 2006, The Macau Post Daily reported yesterday.

The casinos' gross receipts were expected to reach 8.1 billion patacas in December, the daily quoted a senior official of Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau as saying.

He added that the Las-Vegas-style casino resort MGM Grand Macau, opened on December 18, recorded gross receipts of 51.5 million patacas in its first two days of operations.

With the opening of MGM Grand Macau, the SAR now has 28 casinos, including the Macau Palace floating casino that is presently closed for renovation.

Gaming taxes collected in the first 11 months of this year exceeded by 34.9 percent those for the whole of 2006. Direct gaming taxes accounted for 71.4 percent of the government's total revenue in this period.

Macau, an hour by high-speed ferry from Hong Kong, beat the Las Vegas Strip last year in gaming revenue.

(Shanghai Daily December 30, 2007)