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Lecture Notes - 02 Determination of Interest Rates - GRC Determination of Interest Rates Chapter Objectives
Lecture Notes - 02 Determination of Interest Rates - GRC Determination of Interest Rates Chapter Objectives
Chapter Objectives
▪ Apply the loanable funds theory to explain why interest rates change.
▪ Identify the most relevant factors that affect interest rate movements.
▪ Explain how to forecast interest rates
Definition of Terms
▪ nominal interest rates- the interest rates actually observed in financial markets.
▪ loanable funds theory- a theory of interest rate determination that views
equilibrium interest rates in financial markets as a result of the supply and
demand for loanable funds.
▪ inflation- the continual increase in the price level of a basket of goods and
services.
▪ real interest rate- the interest rate that would exist on a default free security if
no inflation were expected.
▪ default risk-the risk that a security issuer will default on that security by being
late on or missing an interest or principal payment.
▪ liquidity risk- the risk that a security can be sold at a predictable price with low
transaction costs on short notice.
▪ term structure of interest rates- a comparison of market yields on securities,
assuming all characteristics except maturity are the same.
▪ forward rate- an expected rate (quoted today) on a security that originates at
some point in the future.
▪ compound interest- interest earned on an investment is reinvested.
▪ simple interest- interest earned on an investment is not reinvested.
▪ lump sum payment- a single cash flow occurs at the beginning and end of the
investment horizon with no other cash flows exchanged.
▪ annuity- a series of equal cash flows received at fixed intervals over the
investment horizon
▪ effective or equivalent annual return - rate earned over a 12-month period
taking the compounding of interest into account.
LECTURE NOTES | 02 DETERMINATION OF INTEREST RATES | GRC
INTEREST RATE FUNDAMENTALS
An interest rate reflects the rate of return that a creditor receives when lending
money, or the rate that a borrower pays when borrowing money. Because interest
rates change over time, so does the rate earned by the creditors who provide loans
and the rate paid by the borrowers who obtain loans.
Interest rate movements have a direct influence on the market values of debt
securities, such as money market securities, bonds, and mortgages. They also have
an indirect influence on equity security values because they can affect economic
conditions, and therefore influence the cash inflows to corporations.
▪ Since interest rates represent the cost of borrowing, they directly affect
corporate cash outflow payments on debt.
▪ Interest rate movements also affect the value of most financial institutions.
They influence the cost of funds to depository institutions and the interest
received on some loans by financial institutions.
▪ Since financial institutions commonly invest in securities, the market value
of their investment portfolios is affected by interest rate movements.
▪ Managers of financial institutions attempt to anticipate interest rate
movements and commonly restructure their assets and liabilities to
capitalize on their expectations.
▪ Individuals also attempt to anticipate interest rate movements so that they
can estimate the potential cost of borrowing or the potential return from
investing in various debt securities.
Nominal interest rates are the interest rates actually observed in financial markets.
These nominal interest rates (or just interest rates) directly affect the value (price)
of most securities traded in the money and capital markets, both at home and
abroad.
LECTURE NOTES | 02 DETERMINATION OF INTEREST RATES | GRC
Loanable Funds Theory Exhibit 2.2 Relationship between Interest Rates and Business Demand (Db) for
▪ The Loanable Funds Theory suggests that the market interest rate is determined Loanable Funds at a Given Point in Time
by the factors that control supply of and demand for loanable funds.
▪ Can be used to explain:
o Movements in the general level of interest rates in a particular country
o Why interest rates among debt securities of a given country vary
Exhibit 2.1 Relationship between Interest Rates and Household Demand (Dh) Government Demand for Loanable Funds
for Loanable Funds at a Given Point in Time ▪ Governments demand loanable funds when planned expenditures are not
covered by incoming revenues.
▪ Government and its agencies issue Treasury securities and federal agency
securities. These securities constitute government debt.
▪ Government demand is said to be interest inelastic — insensitive to interest
rates. Expenditures and tax policies are independent of the level of interest rates.
(Exhibit 2.3)
Exhibit 2.4 Impact of Increased Foreign Interest Rates on the Foreign Demand
for U.S. Loanable Funds
In many cases, both supply and demand for loanable funds are changing. Given an
initial equilibrium situation, the equilibrium interest rate should rise when DA>SA.
and fall when DA<SA.
LECTURE NOTES | 02 DETERMINATION OF INTEREST RATES | GRC
Equilibrium Interest Rate — Graphical Presentation
▪ Combining aggregate demand and aggregate supply curves (Exhibits 2.5 and
2.6) allows comparison of total amount demanded to total amount supplied
▪ At equilibrium interest rate i, the supply of loanable funds is equal to the demand
for loanable funds. (Exhibit 2.7)
▪ At interest rate above i, there is a surplus of loanable funds. (the greater the
interest income that will be earned, the more people would want to supply funds)
▪ At interest rate below i, there is a shortage of loanable funds.
▪ The short-age of funds will cause the interest rate to increase, resulting in two
reactions.
o First, more savers will enter the market to supply loanable funds
because the reward (interest rate) is now higher.
o Second, some potential borrowers will decide not to demand loan-able
funds at the higher interest rate.
o Once the interest rate rises to i, the quantity of loanable funds supplied
has increased and the quantity of loanable funds demanded has
decreased to the extent that a shortage no longer exists. Thus, an
equilibrium position is achieved once again.
The relationship among the real interest rate (iR), the expected rate of The one-year T-bill rate in 2009 was 0.47 percent, while the CPI for the
inflation [Expected (INF)], described above, and the nominal interest rate year was 2.70 percent. This implies a real interest rate of −2.23 percent,
(i) is often referred to as the Fisher effect. that is, the real interest rate was actually negative.
The Fisher effect theorizes that nominal interest rates observed in financial
markets (e.g., the one-year Treasury bill rate) must compensate investors Keep in mind, however, that because of the Fisher effect, high interest
for rates will not necessarily result in a higher real rate of interest.
(1) any reduced purchasing power on funds lent (or principal lent)
due to inflationary price changes and
(2) an additional premium above the expected rate of inflation for
forgoing present consumption (which reflects the real interest
rate discussed above).
LECTURE NOTES | 02 DETERMINATION OF INTEREST RATES | GRC
Exhibit 2.10 Impact of an Increase in Inflationary Expectations on Interest out” the private demand (by consumers and corporations) for funds. The
Rates federal government may be willing to pay whatever is necessary to borrow
these funds, but the private sector may not. This impact is known as the
crowding-out effect
▪ Crowding-out Effect: Given a certain amount of loanable funds supplied
to the market, excessive government demand for funds tends to “crowd out”
the private demand for funds. (Exhibit 2.12)
Exhibit 2.12 Flow of Funds between the Federal Government and the Private
Sector
When economic conditions are weak, the Fed (BSP) may believe that it
can stimulate the economy by reducing interest rates, which may
encourage businesses and households to borrow more funds (at the
appealing lower interest rate).
To do so, the Fed increases the money supply in the banking system.
The increase in the supply of loanable funds (represented as an
outward shift in the supply curve) places downward pressure on
interest rates. (this strategy was used to help solve the 2008 crisis)
Factors That Affect the Supply of and Demand for Loanable Funds for a
Financial Security
*A “direct” impact on equilibrium interest rates means that as the “factor”
increases (decreases) the equilibrium interest rate increases (decreases). An
“inverse” impact means that as the factor increases (decreases) the equilibrium
interest rate decreases (increases).
LECTURE NOTES | 02 DETERMINATION OF INTEREST RATES | GRC
Factors Affecting Nominal Interest Rates (to be discussed in detail in the next Liquidity Risk
succeeding topics) − A highly liquid asset is one that can be sold at a predictable price with low
▪ Inflation —the continual increase in the price level of a basket of goods and transaction costs and thus can be converted into its full market value at short
services. notice. The interest rate on a security reflects its relative liquidity, with highly
▪ Real Interest Rate —nominal interest rate that would exist on a security if no liquid assets carrying the lowest interest rates (all other characteristics remaining
inflation were expected. the same). Likewise, if a security is illiquid, investors add a liquidity risk
▪ Default Risk —risk that a security issuer will default on the security by missing premium (LRP) to the interest rate on the security.
an interest or principal payment. − A different type of liquidity risk premium may also exist if investors dislike
▪ Liquidity Risk —risk that a security cannot be sold at a predictable price with long-term securities because their prices (present values) are more sensitive to
low transaction costs at short notice. interest rate changes than short-term securities. In this case, a higher liquidity
▪ Special Provisions —provisions (e.g., taxability, convertibility, and callability) risk premium may be added to a security with a longer maturity simply because
that impact the security holder beneficially or adversely and as such are reflected of its greater exposure to price risk (loss of capital value) on a security as interest
in the interest rates on securities that contain such provisions. rates change.
▪ Term to Maturity —length of time a security has until maturity.
Special Provisions or Covenants
(inflation and real interest rate is discussed above) Numerous special provisions or covenants that may be written into the contracts
underlying the issuance of a security also affect the interest rates on different
Default or Credit Risk securities. Some of these special provisions include the security’s taxability,
− Default risk is the risk that a security issuer will default on making its promised convertibility and callability.
interest and principal payments to the buyer of a security. − For example, for investors, interest payments on municipal securities are
− The higher the default risk, the higher the interest rate that will be demanded by free of federal, state, and local taxes. Thus, the interest rate demanded by a
the buyer of the security to compensate him or her for this default (or credit) risk municipal bond holder is smaller than that on a comparable taxable bond—
exposure. for example, a Treasury bond, which is taxable at the federal level but not
o Treasury securities are regarded as having no default risk since they are at the state or local (city) levels, or a corporate bond, whose interest
issued by the government, and the probability of the government payments are taxable at the state and local levels as well as federal levels.
defaulting on its debt payments is practically zero given its taxation − In general, special provisions that provide benefits to the security holder
powers and its ability to print currency. (e.g., tax-free status and convertibility) are associated with lower interest
− default or credit risk premium- yhe difference between a quoted interest rate rates, and special provisions that provide benefits to the security issuer (e.g.,
on a security (security j ) and a Treasury security with similar maturity, liquidity, callability, by which an issuer has the option to retire—call—a security prior
tax, and other features (such as callability or convertibility) to maturity at a preset price) are associated with higher interest rates.
where
IP- Inflation premium
RIR- Real interest rate
DRPj- Default risk premium on the jth security
LRPj- Liquidity risk premium on the jth security
SCPj- Special feature premium on the jth security
MPj- Maturity premium on the jth security
The first two factors, IP and RIR, are common to all financial securities, while
the other factors can be unique to each security.
LECTURE NOTES | 02 DETERMINATION OF INTEREST RATES | GRC
Forecasting Interest Rates (Exhibit 2.14)
▪ Net Demand (ND) should be forecast: Exhibit 2.14 Framework for Forecasting Interest Rates
ND = DA − SA
ND = (Dh + Db + Dm + Dr) − (Sh + Sb + Sm + Sf)