The Hong Kong Monetary Authority maintained its base interest rate unchanged at 0.50% following the decision of the US Federal Reserve to leave the fed funds rate unchanged at 0-0.25%. In a statement to the media the HKMA said: "We understand that QE2 will end in June as scheduled,"…"We have noticed that there is strong demand in Hong Kong dollar credit loans and therefore, Hong Kong dollar lending and deposit rates have some upward pressure."