BOC Hong Kong hikes RMB rate

Hong Kong’s only yuan clearing bank raises overnight rate to 0.648%.

BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd. raised the interest rate on other lenders’ accounts in RMB or yuan from 0.629% beginning March 1. The bank has also started offering RMB fixed deposits maturing in one to three months to financial institutions that do business in the Chinese currency.

The rate on one-month fixed deposits for banks was set at 2.2% on March 1 while that on two- and three-month savings were 2.3% and 2.4%, respectively.

Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong rose to US$100 billion in January, up US$3.4 billion from December compared to the record US$100.8 billion in November 2011, said the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.