MACAO - The Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) on Thursday lowered the base rate of the discount window by 25 basis points to 2 percent, the third time to lower its policy rate within this year.

As the pataca is linked to the Hong Kong dollar, the movements of policy rates in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the Macao SAR should be basically consistent, in order to maintain the effective operation of the linked exchange rate system, the AMCM said in a statement.

As a result, the AMCM followed its Hong Kong counterpart to adjust the base rate, after the US Federal Reserve decided Wednesday to lower federal funds rate by 25 basis points.