Flag-lowering ceremony cancelled
Owing to the thunderstorm warning, the flag-lowering ceremony to be conducted at Golden Bauhinia Square, Wan Chai at 6pm today (July 18) will be cancelled. If the thunderstorm warning is cancelled an… read more
Owing to the thunderstorm warning, the flag-lowering ceremony to be conducted at Golden Bauhinia Square, Wan Chai at 6pm today (July 18) will be cancelled. If the thunderstorm warning is cancelled an… read more
The overall Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) caseload in June showed a drop of 442 cases, representing a decrease of 0.2 per cent compared with that of May, according to the latest CSSA caseload statistics released by… read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (July 18) the composite interest rate at the end of June 2024 (Note 1).
The composite interest rate, which is a measure of the average cost of funds of banks, increased by 1 basis point to 2.62 per cent at the end of June 2024, from 2.61 per cent at the end of May 2024 (see Chart 1 in the Annex). The increase in composite interest rate mainly reflected the increase in the weighted funding cost for deposits during the month (see Chart 2 in the Annex) (Note 2).
The historical data of the composite interest rate from the end of the fourth quarter of 2003 to the end of June 2024 are available in the Monthly Statistical Bulletin on the HKMA website (www.hkma.gov.hk).
Note 1: The composite interest rate is a weighted average interest rate of all Hong Kong dollar interest-rate-sensitive liabilities, which include deposits from customers, amounts due to banks, negotiable certificates of deposit and other debt instruments, and all other liabilities that do not involve any formal payment of interest but the values of which are sensitive to interest rate movements (such as Hong Kong dollar non-interest bearing demand deposits) on the books of banks. Data from retail banks, which account for about 90 per cent 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.
Note 2: Since June 2019, the composite interest rate and weighted deposit rate have been calculated based on the new local “Interest rate risk in the banking book” (IRRBB) framework. As such, these figures are not strictly comparable with those of previous months. read more
According to the latest labour force statistics (i.e. provisional figures for April – June 2024) released today (July 18) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 3.0% in… read more
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (July 18) that an aquatic product from a regulated Japanese prefecture was suspected to be in breach of the relevant Food Sa… read more