MACAO - The preliminary estimate of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR)'s foreign exchange reserves was 129 billion patacas ($16.15 billion) at the end of December 2013, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Monetary Authority of Macao.

The reserves for December increased by 1.9 percent over the revised value of 126.6 billion patacas ($15.85 billion) for the previous month, the figures indicated.

Macao's foreign exchange reserves at the end of December 2013 was 15 times the currency in circulation at the end of November.

The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the local currency's exchange rates against the currencies of Macao's major trading partners, fell by 0.22 points month on month and 0.14 points year on year to 96.71 in December 2013.