Talking points

A specially invited audience gets a first glimpse of the programme line-up for City Telecom's new CTI television station. In the ballroom of the InterContinental in Tsim Sha Tsui, the station's boss, Ricky Wong Wai-kay, shows off trailers of the drama shows on which he is spending HK$1 million per episode. The only catch is that the channel has yet to receive its free-to-air licence from the government, casting doubt on when or where the full shows will ever be broadcast.

An expected interest rate cut in Australia is unlikely to hurt the attractions of the Australian dollar for Hong Kong investors, who face the prospect of ultra-low interest rates for Hong Kong dollar deposits. The Reserve Bank of Australia may cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 3 per cent, still comfortably higher than any yields available in the US or European markets.