Session 4: Economics: Economics for Valuation Reading 19: Foreign Exchange Parity Relations
LOS k: Calculate the international Fisher relation, and its linear approximation, between interest rates and expected inflation rates.
The Asian Spec Fund, managed by Jonathan Khamal, CFA, engages in currency speculation for its clients. Based in Paris, Khamal believes that there is an opportunity to speculate on the Malaysian Ringgit. The current spot exchange rate is 4.417 Malaysian Ringgit per euro. He believes that the international Fisher relation holds on the assumption that the ratios of interest and inflation rates are equal among developed and emerging countries. For comparative purposes, one of Malaysia’s main financial trading partners is Europe. The current nominal interest rate for the European Economic Community is 11.76% and the annual inflation rate is 8.50%. The Malaysian nominal interest rate is 7.60% and the annual inflation rate is 4.50%. According to his calculations, the result of the international Fisher relation and its linear approximation are:
Using the international Fisher relation:
Exact methodology: (1 + rFC) / (1 + rDC) = (1 + E (iFC)) / (1 + E (iDC))
Linear approximation: rFC – rDC = E (iFC) – E (iDC)
By substituting for the international Fisher relation:
(1 + 0.076) / (1 + 0.1176) = (1 + 0.045) / (1 + 0.085) 1.076 / 1.1176 ≈ 1.045 / 1.085 0.9628 ≈ 0.9631
By substituting for the linear approximation of the international Fisher relation:
0.076 – 0.1176 ≈ 0.045 – 0.085 - 0.0416 ≈ -0.0400
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