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Hong Kong’s Silver Bonds draw record 480,000 bids with higher interest rate
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Enoch YiuPublished: 8:26pm, 4 Sep 2026Updated: 8:31pm, 4 Sep 2026The latest round of the Hong Kong government’s Silver Bonds programme has attracted a record number of subscriptions in terms of both quantity and value, as the city’s elderly investors seize the opportunity to secure better returns than those offered by bank deposits.
Investors submitted 478,000 bids for HK$119.8 billion (US$15.28 billion) worth of bonds during the offering period, which ended at 2pm on Friday, according to a government spokesman.
That represented a 22 per cent rise in terms of value and a 28 per cent jump by number of applicants compared with last year’s offering, which drew 371,821 applications for HK$98.23 billion of Silver Bonds – itself a record high at the time.
In light of the strong demand, the government is expected to raise the final issuance to the upper limit of HK$55 billion, from the original HK$50 billion, according to the spokesman.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will announce the final allotment results on September 11, with the bonds set to be issued on September 15.
The government increased the guaranteed coupon rate for its 11th batch of Silver Bonds to 4.25 per cent, up from 3.85 per cent last year and from 4 per cent in 2024. The increase came ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s next rate decision at the coming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on September 17.
About 60 per cent of traders expected the Fed to implement a 0.25 percentage point rate increase as of Thursday, while 40 per cent expected no rate change, according to data from CME FedWatch, which is based on Fed funds futures contracts.
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