High Interest Rates, Spreads, and the Costs of Intermediation

📖 The Scoop

High interest rates have become a global concern in both the industrialized and developing countries. In some developing countries they have reached real levels far above even the unprecedented rates prevailing in international capital markets. Such rates prejudice investment and clearly require attention if growth is to be resumed during adjustment. The two papers in this volume analyze some of the causes of high real rates and suggest some policy options for bringing rates down. The first paper summarizes the Industry Department's ongoing work on high real rates while the second paper presents perhaps the first cross-country analysis of banking costs and profits in developing countries. The papers conclude that reductions in direct taxes and in reserve requirements and forced investments could reduce the gap between deposit and lending rates dramatically, and thus lower real lending rates sharply.

Genre: Business & Economics / Interest (fancy, right?)