The Government's target of launching bonds in July will be kept, Financial Secretary Henry Tang says.

Speaking in Shenyang today, Mr Tang said the market has anticipated that the Federal Reserve will raise the interest rate in the near term.

"It is something that we have anticipated and the market has anticipated," he said.

The issuance of the Government bond programme depends on many factors, such as interest rates.

"The others are a whole host of factors regarding what other offerings are and whether we have made other recent offerings. So there is a whole host of other factors we have to consider," he said. "But our target remains that we will launch the Government bonds in July."

Mr Tang said the cost of capital in Hong Kong is still fairly low.

"So even with an increase in interest rates, although it might affect how investors think, I do not think it will have a serious impact on our economy as long as the increase in interest rates is not too big."