Public welfare lottery ticket sales for this year are expected to reach NT$124.1 billion (US$4.11 billion), the third-highest total since the lottery was introduced in 1999, public welfare lottery operator Taiwan Lottery Co (台灣彩券) said yesterday.
Estimated lottery sales for this year would be an increase of 12 percent on last year and the fourth consecutive year of growth, the company said.
As of Monday, the public welfare lottery had generated NT$122.9 billion in ticket sales, up 12.6 percent from a year earlier, mainly driven by the introduction of new scratch card games, which contributed NT$62.2 billion, or year-on-year growth of 22 percent, Taiwan Lottery general manager Eric Tsai (蔡國基) said at a media gathering in Taipei.
The booming sales were partly spurred by one person winning a NT$2.047 billion jackpot in the Aug. 12 Power Lottery draw, the biggest Power Lottery jackpot this year.
An estimated NT$27.2 billion from the surplus generated by the public welfare lottery is to be handed to the Ministry of Finance to be used for social welfare and security programs, Tsai said.
Looking ahead to next year, Tsai said that the company has set a sales goal of NT$126 billion, with computerized lotteries and instant scratch cards accounting for an estimated NT$63 billion each.
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