51.   Under a financial futures contract, an investor bets on the price direction of government bonds, deposit rates and currencies.

52.   With austerity, currencies stopped falling, but as interest rates spiraled upward, so did deposit rates and loan payments.

53.   With interest rates seen falling for much of the first half of the year, the banks were coining it by bringing deposit rates down faster than lending rates.

54.   Yingling said practices would no doubt vary widely but that he could imagine some banks raising deposit rates by perhaps one-eighth of a percentage point.

55.   Other deposit rates remain unchanged, the broadcast said.

56.   -- The administrative expenses can be deducted from the fund only if the investment return exceeds the average deposit rate of a Hong Kong dollar savings account.

57.   A customer is bombarded with everything from deposit rates and loans to credit cards and insurance.

58.   A cut or increase in the saving deposit rate by the HKAB determines the prime lending rate charged by member banks.

59.   A report from Salomon Brothers Hong Kong Ltd said rapid increase in interest rates led to lending rates climbing faster than fixed deposit rates.

60.   Also, analysts expect the Hong Kong Association of Banks to slash deposit rates by a quarter-point or a half-point as early as Friday.