Composite Interest Rate : End of August 2008

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Friday) the composite interest rate at the end of August 2008.¹

The composite interest rate, which reflects the average cost of funds of banks, rose slightly by 3 basis points to 0.91% at the end of August 2008, from 0.88% at the end of July 2008 (see Chart 1 in the Annex). This followed an increase of 3 basis points in July 2008. The mild increase in the composite interest rate in August 2008 reflected upward adjustments of short-term interbank rates, while savings rates were unchanged (see Chart 2 in the Annex).²

"Short-term interbank rates rose in the past few days due to the turmoil in the US financial markets. Looking ahead, the composite interest rate is expected to continue to be influenced by changes in US interest rates and global financial market conditions," said Mr Peter Pang, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA.

The historical data of the composite interest rate from the end of the fourth quarter of 2003 to the end of August 2008 are available in the Monthly Statistical Bulletin on the HKMA website (www.hkma.gov.hk). The next data release is scheduled for 17 October 2008 and will provide the composite interest rate at the end of September 2008.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Peggy Lo, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Hing-fung Wong, Manager (Press), at 2878 1802

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
19 September 2008

¹ The composite interest rate is a weighted average interest rate of all Hong Kong dollar interest bearing liabilities, which include deposits from customers, amounts due to banks, negotiable certificates of deposit and other debt instruments, and Hong Kong dollar non-interest bearing demand deposits on the books of banks. Data from retail banks, which account for about 90% of the total customers' deposits in the banking sector, are used in the calculation. It should be noted that the composite interest rate represents only average interest expenses. There are various other costs involved in the making of a loan, such as operating costs (e.g. staff and rental expenses), credit cost and hedging cost, which are not covered by the composite interest rate.

² During August, HIBORs rose for funds with maturity of less than one month by 4.1 to 9.7 basis points, while that for funds with maturity of one month or above fell by 4.8 to 10.9 basis points.

Annex

Chart 1

^*End-of-period figures.

Chart 2

^*End-of-period figures.