In the first half of the 1990s when the economy grew at an annual average rate of 6%, inflation rate, measured by the consumer price index, rose faster at an average rate of 7.8%. In the wake of the Asian financial crisis in October 1997, which sent most Asian Pacific countries into recession, hit hard on Macau's economy. Real GDP did not grow in 1997 and declined by an estimated 31/2 percent in 1998. Inflation declined from about 5 percent in 1996 to 31/2 percent in 1997 and further to about 1/4 percent in 1998. In the statistical record of Macau SAR, its first price deflationary year was…
