The government of the Macao Special Administrative Region has collected 9.3 billion patacas (US$1.16 billion) in direct gaming taxes in the first half of the year, a year-on-year rise of 14.7 percent.

The statistics issued Wednesday by the Finance Services Bureau (FSB) showed that the gaming taxes accounted for 75 percent of the government total revenue in the period.

Macao's direct gaming taxes reached a record 16.56 billion patacas (US$2.07 billion) in 2005, a year-on-year rise of 12 percent, according to official statistics issued earlier this year.

Macao's 21 casinos pay 35 percent of their gross receipts as direct tax to the government.

The region, with a population of nearly 500,000, has a 150-year history of gaming industry and is the only part of China where casino gaming is legitimate.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2006)