The government has no plans to tighten regulations on bank loan interest-rate disclosure, even though some borrowers say difficulty in understanding the figures has resulted in serious personal debt problems.
Secretary for Financial Services and Treasury Frederick Ma Si-hang told legislator Kenneth Ting Woo-shou this yesterday in a written answer on whether the government should do more to ensure borrowers knew how much they were paying for their loans.
'People who borrow money in times of financial difficulty are often unaware of the way the loan interest is calculated and their own repayment ability, and thus become entangled in a web of debt,' Mr Ting said.
Mr Ma, however, said the Code of Banking Practice already asked banks to disclose annualised interest rates on credit-card and personal loan products.
Money lenders, who do not come under the banking code, were also required to sign an agreement with borrowers making sure they knew the interest-rate charges.
Mr Ma believed these regulations were adequate and said the Hong Kong Monetary Authority had recommended the industry provide information on personal finance management when issuing credit cards to students to prevent them borrowing excessively.