The Macau government will hold off on implementing austerity measures as the special administrative region’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) for July reached more than the government’s MOP18.35b target.

According to data released by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau or DICJ on Monday, Macau GGR fell 34.5% year-on-year to MOP18.62b ($2.33b) in July, the 14th consecutive monthly plunge.

“Since the average monthly GGR intake [for 2015] still continues above the MOP20b [$2.5b] threshold used to prepare the revised 2015 budget, at this moment it is still unnecessary to introduce austerity measures on public spending,” said the Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac.

Last week, Leong said it would be necessary for the government to conduct austerity measures, based on projections that July’s GGR would fall short of MOP18b ($2.25b). Although Macau has for the moment avoided tightening its belt, Leong said that the government would continue to “pay close attention” to GGR and would immediately introduce austerity measures if average monthly GGR drops below MOP20b.