International credit debt watcher Fitch Ratings Inc. predicts a long recovery for Macau after finally hitting rock bottom.

Fitch Ratings made the forecast after Macau announces that its gross gaming revenue in November picked up at MOP18.79 billion (US$2.35) billion or 14.4 percent higher compared to the same period last year.

Alex Bumazhny, Senior Director, U.S. Corporates of Fitch Ratings, said that Macau’s economy is steadily recovering from its slump, albeit at a slower pace. The agency sees Macau’s gaming revenues to slide 4 per cent in 2016 before rebounding to mid-single-digit growth in 2017

“Macau gaming, now firmly at the bottom of the cycle, has better long-term prospects given investments in new supply, improvements in mass market indicators and under-penetration of gaming throughout the rest of Asia,” Bumazhny said in a statement. “That assumes the revenue improvements seen recently stick and then increase slightly when the MGM Cotai opens.”