HONG KONG - THE booming Chinese gambling haven of Macau has placed a moratorium on granting new casino licences in a bid to cool the city's frantic growth, its chief executive said.

Mr Edmund Ho told legislators in the former Portuguese colony that the number of gaming licences would be capped at six and there would be a freeze on new development.

'The number of licensed casino operators will remain the same for a period of time and the government will not approve new applications for land use filed by gaming companies,' Mr Ho said, according to a statement released late on Tuesday.

Last week, it announced gaming revenues in the first three months of this year had risen to 30.1 billion patacas (S$5.12 billion), about the same amount it took in the whole of 2003.

Revenues in 2007 topped 10 billion dollars for the first time, far outstripping Las Vegas's Strip and just shy of the wider Las Vegas area.

There are currently 29 casinos with more than 4,300 gaming tables in Macau, compared to 424 tables in 2003, Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau statistics show.

But the rapid growth has come at a cost. Many citizens have protested that the casino boom has not benefited the wider society and much of the profits have been sent abroad to foreign operators.

There have also been complaints that the high wages casino operators can pay for staff has lured key workers, such as teachers, into croupier jobs.

Ho announced a one-off payment of 5,000 patacas to permanent residents to try and placate their frustration.

He added that any reclaimed land would no longer be eligible for gaming use. Many of the new casinos under construction in Macau are being built on a reclaimed area called the Cotai Strip.

However, the large number of gaming constructions that are already underway or in discussion would not be affected, he said. Mr Ho did not specify when the freeze on new licences or development would be lifted.

The government was 'studying ways to maintain the number of casinos, gaming tables and slot machines', Mr Ho said, and would continue to urge operators to move slot machine parlours away from densely-populated districts.

Ms Karen Tang, a Hong Kong-based research analyst at Deutsche Bank, said the move provided good news for existing licence holders who had expected a new rival when licences were due in 2009.

'We believe this is medium-term positive for Melco and Galaxy as a potential competitive threat is now removed,' she said in a research note.

Six concessions and sub-concessions have been granted since tycoon Stanley Ho, who is not related to Edmund Ho, lost his 40-year casino monopoly in 2002.

US giants MGM Mirage, Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands have enjoyed huge profits from their hotels, which dominate the territory's skyline. Las Vegas Sands opened the massive Venetian casino resort in Macau last August. -- AFP