
Glitzy casinos at risk as feeble ASEAN currencies continue to weaken
The SGD’s strength is not a boon.
Singapore’s glitzy casinos are under threat from the constant depreciation of key regional currencies against the Singapore dollar.
Data from Macquarie showed that the SGD has gained as much as 44% against the IDR since the 2 casinos opened in 2Q10 while it has gained 15% against the MYR.
“These 2 countries are significant contributors to Singapore’s ‘mass market volumes’ in our view, and the weakening of those two currencies further negatively impacts the tourist arrivals and hence the revenue potential from mass market in our view,” stated the report.