The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), as representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSAR Government), announced that a tender for 5-year RMB institutional Government Bonds (issue number 05GB3005001) under the Infrastructure Bond Programme was held today (May 13).
      
     A total of RMB1.5 billion 5-year Government Bonds were offered today. A total of RMB10.753 billion tender applications were received. The bid-to-cover ratio, i.e. the ratio of bonds applied for to bonds issued, is 7.17. The average price accepted is 101.46, implying an annualised yield of 1.672 per cent.

HKSAR Institutional Government Bonds Tender Results
 
     Tender results of 5-year RMB HKSAR Institutional Government Bonds:
 

* Calculated as the amount of bonds applied for over the amount of bonds issued.

Note: The yields stated above are annualised yields. For reference, the semi-annualised yields corresponding to the average price accepted, lowest price accepted, and average tender price are 1.665 per cent, 1.764 per cent, and 1.921 per cent respectively.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), as representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSAR Government), announced that a tender for 2-year RMB institutional Government Bonds (issue number 02GB2705001) under the Infrastructure Bond Programme was held today (May 13).
      
     A total of RMB1.5 billion 2-year Government Bonds were offered today. A total of RMB11.905 billion tender applications were received. The bid-to-cover ratio, i.e. the ratio of bonds applied for to bonds issued, is 7.94. The average price accepted is 100.14, implying an annualised yield of 1.643 per cent.

HKSAR Institutional Government Bonds Tender Results
 
     Tender results of 2-year RMB HKSAR Institutional Government Bonds:
 

* Calculated as the amount of bonds applied for over the amount of bonds issued.

Note: The yields stated above are annualised yields. For reference, the semi-annualised yields corresponding to the average price accepted, lowest price accepted, and average tender price are 1.637 per cent, 1.654 per cent, and 1.747 per cent respectively.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited relating to fraudulent websites and internet banking login screens, which have been reported to the HKMA. A hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website.
      
     The HKMA wishes to remind the public that banks will not send SMS or emails with embedded hyperlinks which direct them to the banks' websites to carry out transactions. They will not ask customers for sensitive personal information, such as login passwords or one-time password, by phone, email or SMS (including via embedded hyperlinks).
      
     Anyone who has provided his or her personal information, or who has conducted any financial transactions, through or in response to the websites or login screens concerned, should contact the bank using the contact information provided in the press release, and report the matter to the Police by contacting the Crime Wing Information Centre of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     Exchange Fund Bills tender results:
 

 
*"Pro rata ratio" refers to the average percentage of allotment with respect to each tender participant’s tendered amount at the "highest yield accepted" level.
 
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     Hong Kong Monetary Authority tenders to be held in the week beginning May 19, 2025:
 

     The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (May 13) the results of the Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for April 2025.
 
     The current diffusion index (DI) on business receipts amongst SMEs decreased from 43.5 in March 2025 in the contractionary zone to 41.2 in April 2025, whereas the one-month's ahead (i.e. May 2025) outlook DI on business receipts was 43.6. Analysed by sector, the current DIs on business receipts for majority of the surveyed sectors dropped in April 2025 as compared with previous month, particularly for the import and export trades (from 45.1 to 40.2) and business services (from 48.4 to 45.3).
       
     The current DI on new orders for the import and export trades decreased from 46.6 in March 2025 to 42.0 in April 2025, whereas the outlook DI on new orders in one month's time (i.e. May 2025) was 43.8.
 
Commentary
 
     A Government spokesman said that business sentiment among SMEs and their outlook in one month's time both weakened in April, as the headwinds and uncertainties in the external environment increased sharply after the United States (US) announced significant increases in import tariffs last month. The overall employment situation also softened.
 
     Looking ahead, while trade tensions have eased somewhat of late, the uncertainty of US' trade policy will still affect the economic outlook and business sentiment. The Government will continue to monitor the situation closely.
 
Further information
 
     The Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises aims to provide a quick reference, with minimum time lag, for assessing the short-term business situation faced by SMEs. SMEs covered in this survey refer to establishments with fewer than 50 persons engaged. Respondents were asked to exclude seasonal fluctuations in reporting their views. Based on the views collected from the survey, a set of diffusion indices (including current and outlook diffusion indices) is compiled. A reading above 50 indicates that the business condition is generally favourable, whereas that below 50 indicates otherwise. As for statistics on the business prospects of prominent establishments in Hong Kong, users may refer to the publication entitled "Report on Quarterly Business Tendency Survey" released by the C&SD.
 
     The results of the survey should be interpreted with care. The survey solicits feedback from a panel sample of about 600 SMEs each month and the survey findings are thus subject to sample size constraint. Views collected from the survey refer only to those of respondents on their own establishments rather than those on the respective sectors they are engaged in. Besides, in this type of opinion survey on expected business situation, the views collected in the survey are affected by the events in the community occurring around the time of enumeration, and it is difficult to establish precisely the extent to which respondents' perception of the business situation accords with the underlying trends. For this survey, main bulk of the data were collected around the last week of the reference month.
 
     More detailed statistics are given in the "Report on Monthly Survey on the Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises". Users can browse and download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1080015&scode=300).
 
     Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact Industrial Production Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7246; email: sme-survey@censtatd.gov.hk).