Loans demand shrink on lackluster market sentiments, govt measures

Hong Kong lenders cut deposit interest rates on Friday as demands for loans shrink on lukewarm market sentiments and government policy curbs.

Citigroup cuts its two-month Hong Kong dollar term deposit rates to 0.6 percent from 0.7 percent for Citibanking clients, while rate for its premier Citigold clients is lowered to 0.8 percent from 0.9 percent accordingly, an e-mailed statement from the bank revealed on Friday.

BOC Hong Kong on the same day also lowered Hong Kong dollar one-month and three-month term deposit rates to 0.55 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, from the previous 0.7 percent and 1.0 percent.

"The loan growth has slowed down in the city due to sluggish investment environment, leaving the city's lenders free of pressure for funding," Sonny Hsu, a senior analyst from Moody's Investor Service told China Daily in a telephone interview.

According to the latest monetary statistics released by the city's de facto central bank Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Oct 31, Hong Kong-dollar deposits in Sept expanded by 2 percent during the month, reflecting "increases in demand, savings and time deposits".

Loans for use in Hong Kong grew by 0.8 percent in September, at a slower rate of increase than deposits, HKMA noted in the report.

The government's latest property measures to cool the heating home prices have also suppressed the city's mortgage demand, Hsu said.

The Hong Kong government in late Oct unveiled a new round of curbs on the property market, imposing a 10 to 20 percent Special Stamp Duty (SSD) on short term home resales within a three-year period.

Data from the city's real estate agencies showed that home transactions volume slumped about 50 percent over the weekend following the introduction of the new home curbs.

It is hard to predict the future trends of the deposit interest rate as the market conditions change rapidly these days, Hsu added.

Hong Kong needs to keep its interest rates low due to its currency peg with the US dollar. The US government has maintained interest rates at below 0.25 percent for more than three years to boost economic growth.

A higher interest rate offered by Hong Kong lenders would result in a surge of capital inflows to the city and put pressure on the currency.

During the last few weeks, HKMA has injected Hong Kong dollars into the market on 10 occasions to keep its stability as the Hong Kong dollar touched the strong end of its permitted trading range versus the US dollar level due to inflows of hot money to the city.

litao@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 11/10/2012 page2)