The government of the Macao Special Administrative Region has collected 2.81 billion patacas (350 million U.S. dollars) in direct gaming taxes in January and February, a year-on-year rise of 4.2 percent.

The statistics issued Wednesday by the Finance Services Bureau (FSB) showed that the gaming taxes accounted for 77.37 percent of the government total revenue in the two months.

Macao’s direct gaming taxes reached a record 16.56 billion patacas (2.07 billion U.S. dollars) in 2005, a year-on-year rise of 12 percent, according to the statistics.

Macao’s 19 casinos pay 35 percent of their gross receipts as direct tax to the government, according to official figures.

The region, with a population of over 480,000, has a 150-year history of gaming industry and is the only part of China where casino gaming is legitimate.