MACAO - The preliminary estimate of the Macao's foreign exchange reserves amounted to 130.3 billion patacas ($16.31 billion) at the end of April 2012, according to the figures released on Tuesday by the Monetary Authority of Macao.

The reserves for April rose by 1.2 percent over the revised value of 128.8 billion patacas for the previous month, the figures indicated.

Macao's foreign exchange reserves at the end of April 2012 represented 20 times the currency in circulation at the end of March.

The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency's exchange rates against the currencies of Macao's major trading partners, fell by 0.05 points month-to-month but rose by 1.04 points year-on-year to 88.19 in April 2012.