On the retail front, many banks lowered their Best Lending Rates by 12.5 basis points in mid-September and another 12.5 basis points in late-October following the cuts in the target range for the Us federal funds rate. the Best Lending Rates among banks ranged from 5.00% to 5.50%. The average savings deposit rate for deposits of less than $100,000 quoted by major banks decreased from 0.22% at end-2024 to 0.00% at end-2025, while the one- year time deposit rate decreased from 0.39% to 0.15%. The composite interest rate2, which indicates the average cost of funds for retail banks, decreased from In 2025, the Hong Kong dollar spot exchange rate against the US dollar fluctuated across the entire Convertibility Zone. It strengthened in the early part of the year amid buoyant capital market activities, triggering the strong- side CU four times in early May. The resultant widening in negative HKD-USD interest rate spreads amid abundant liquidity spurred carry trade selling flows, and the Hong Kong dollar subsequently weakened, triggering the weak-side CU twelve times from late June to mid-August. Thereafter, the Hong Kong dollar the year, supported by continued buying flows from the Southbound Stock Connect and seasonal funding demand. The spot exchange rate closed the year at 7.7838, compared with 7.7633 at end-2024. The 3-month and 12-month is equivalent to HK$0.0001) at end-2024 to 213 pips and 602 pips respectively at end-2025. During the year, the Aggregate Balance increased to $57.0 billion at end-2025, from $44.8 billion at end-2024.