Composite Interest Rate : End of March 2009

Press Releases

21 Apr 2009

Composite Interest Rate : End of March 2009

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Tuesday) the composite interest rate at the end of March 2009.1

The composite interest rate, which is a measure of the average cost of funds of banks, declined by 4 basis points to 0.29% at the end of March 2009 from 0.33% at the end of February 2009 (see Chart 1 in the Annex). This followed a decline of 9 basis points in February 2009. The decline in the composite interest rate in March 2009 was mainly brought about by downward adjustments in time deposit rates, which more than offset the increases in short-term interbank rates (see Chart 2 in the Annex).2

"Plenty of liquidity in the banking system was the main driving force behind the decline in banks' average funding cost. Looking ahead, the composite interest rate will continue to be influenced by domestic as well as external monetary 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 March 2009 are available in the Monthly Statistical Bulletin on the HKMA website (www.hkma.gov.hk). The next data release is scheduled for 19 May 2009 and will provide the composite interest rate at the end of April 2009.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Communications Chief, at 2878 1480 or
Peggy Lo, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1687

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
21 April 2009

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 March, HIBORs for funds with maturities up to five months rose by 0.1 to 24.9 basis points, while that for funds with maturities longer than five months fell by 0.1 to 9.9 basis points.

Annex

Chart 1

Chart 1
*End-of-period figures.

Chart 2

Chart 2
*End-of-period figures.

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Last revision date : 21 April 2009