Month-end Hong Kong dollar overnight interest rates hit a new high this year, but the rates for one and three-month periods fell below 4%.

On April 30, just before the monthly settlement date and the May Day holiday, the Hong Kong dollar interbank offered rate softened, with the overnight rate rising by only 22 basis points to 4.5%, the highest since December 31 last year. Meanwhile, other tenors of the interbank offered rate softened, with the one-month and three-month rates both falling below 4%. The one-month interbank offered rate related to the property market ended its six consecutive increases, falling by nearly 12 basis points to 3.95333%; while the three-month interbank offered rate, reflecting the cost of bank funds, also ended its five consecutive increases, reaching 3.9872%. The rates for six months and one year period also decreased to 4.02893% and 4.05446% respectively.