The second objective of building defenses, i.e., increasing the resilience of the financial system is viewed as a narrow objective and is attained by build-up of buffers during boom times which can be used when risks materialize during busts.
Capitalising on competitive advantages of the tourism sector, our economy has sustained a remarkable uptrend in the past seven years. With a population of just about half a million, Macao saw its record of visitor arrivals reaching 22 million last year. In the first quarter of this year, we achieved a real GDP growth of 25.6%, after having attained 16.6% in 2006.