The government of the Macao Special Administrative Region has no plan to allow the import of casino croupiers, local media reported Monday.

The Macao Post Daily quoted Tam Pak Yuen, Secretary for Economy and Finance, as saying that under current government policy guidelines on the import of labor, "non-resident workers" are not permitted to work as dealers in local casinos.

The ban is aimed at protecting local residents' employment opportunities, the official was cited by the newspaper.

Tam made the remarks commenting on recent rumors circulating among the local media which speculated that the government is about to loose the curb.

The government allows the casinos to hire a certain number of foreign employees at the management-level, which is believed not to harm local employees' interests.

The 21 casinos dedicate over 70 percent of the government tax income.

(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2006)