China Trust may miss last year's lottery sales target

Sales of public welfare lottery tickets were estimated to be NT$64 billion (US$1.97 billion) last year, lottery operator China Trust Commercial Bank (中國信託銀行) said yesterday.

The bank projected its sales for the whole year at NT$80 billion. Should the final figure fall short of 80 percent of the projection, or NT$64 billion, the bank would be required to bridge the gap with its own money.

An official at the Ministry of Finance said whether China Trust had met the 80 percent sales target was still unclear, and would not be known until the bank's sales report was published.

The official said that since some unsold "scratch-and-win" lottery cards (刮刮樂) may be returned by retailers before they expire, last year's final sales figures may be different from the bank's estimation.

A report on lottery sales would be submitted by the bank on June 30, said the official, adding that the report requires approval by the Supervisory Committee of the Public Welfare Lotteries.