Session 4: Economics for Valuation Reading 18: Currency Exchange Rates
LOS g: Calculate and interpret a forward discount or premium and express it as an annualized rate.
The spot exchange rate is FCC 2.000. The foreign return is 15% and the domestic return is 12%. Which of the following is closest to the forward exchange rate?
We want to create a no arbitrage condition. According to the Interest Rate Parity Theorem, if the following condition does not hold, investors will take advantage of interest rate differentials to capitalize on arbitrage opportunities.
ForwardFCC = SpotFCC × [(1 + rdomestic) / (1 + rforeign)]
This condition is the formal representation of interest rate parity.
Here, ForwardFCC = 2.000 × [(1 + 0.12) / (1 + 0.15)] = 2.000 × 0.97391 = 1.94783 or about 1.948.
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