Central banks around the world are beginning to gradually implement a tapering policy in which they reduce their purchases on bonds by effectively reducing the liquidity cannula in economies. This is due to the gradual improvement of economic indicators and the rapid rise in inflation. Τhe FED, the Bank of England, the Norges Bank and …
Tag: interest rates
When Real Interest Rates Are Lower Than Growth Rates Help Reduce Public Debt
After the end of World War II, short-term interest rates in the US were less than 1%, while T-Bond bonds with 10-year maturity yielded about 2% (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/ERP-2012/pdf/ERP-2012-table73.pdf) with the US Federal Reserve, the Fed directly purchases Federal Government bonds from the US Treasury Department. At that time (1946) the US national debt reached 119% of …
The Unchanged Interest Rates, The Dollar Price Slip and the Postponement of Tapering
The Fed, knowing the expectations of the markets, decided last Wednesday 28/7/2021 to maintain unchanged interest rates, while continuing at a steady pace its monetary policy through the purchase of government bonds and securitized mortgage bonds with the always existing monthly rate. The head of the Fed, Jerome Powell, accepted the fact that the American …
Inflation, Rising Interest Rates or Both Together?
At the hearing before Congress on Thursday, March 25, 2021, Fed Governor Jerome Powell was adamant that any resurgence of inflation in the US would be temporary (inflation above 2% for 2021), transitional and would in no way affect the Fed’s target of average inflation of 2%. But rising Federal Reserve bond yields point to …
Why Stocks are Still Cheaper in Relation to Bonds?
It is a fact that U.S. stock prices are at their highest historical level. But for someone to decide whether to keep their shares in their portfolio in the new year, it will be the wrong strategy to look at how high their share prices can go. What matters to the investor is that the …
The Inequality of Borrowing Cost Rates in the Eurozone
The European Central Bank (ECB) recently published data on the borrowing rates of households, businesses and the overall long-term borrowing costs respectively for both the Euro area and each of its member countries (Source: ECB, https://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data/publisher/ecb). What continues to trouble us from the graphs below is the fact that a Eurozone of different speeds appears …
The low interest rates, their consequences & the returns of assets as an investment selection criterion
In EU member countries (e.g. Denmark, Germany) commercial banks are proceeding to mortgage loans with a negative lending rate. In other words, these banks grant discounted housing loans to borrowers and since the repayment of the mortgage loan not only will not be paid interest, but the borrower will repay capital in total less than …