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06 INBU 4200 Fall 2010 Parity Models and The Foreign Exchange Rate
06 INBU 4200 Fall 2010 Parity Models and The Foreign Exchange Rate
Exchange Rates
The Absolute PPP Spot rate is then compared to the actual rate,
to determine if the current spot rate is overvalued or undervalued.
Rate on October 13, 2010: 81.85
Overvalued, by about 9%
http://www.bis.org/cbanks.htm
http://www.economist.com/index.html
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International Fisher Effect
The second major foreign exchange parity model is
the International Fisher Effect (IFE).
This model uses interest rates rather than inflation
rates to explain why exchange rates change over
time.
The model consists of two parts:
(1) Fisher Effect which is an explanation of the market
interest rate, and
(2) The International Fisher Effect which is an explanation
of the relationship of market interest rates to exchange rate
changes.
The model is attributed to the American
economist, Irving Fisher
(1895 - 1935).
Part 1: The Fisher Effect
The IFE model begins with the Fisher interest rate
model:
Irving Fisher’s explanation of the market interest rate was
as follows:
Market interest rate is made up of two components:
Real rate requirement; which relates to the real growth
rate in the economy.
Inflationary expectations premium; which related to the
markets’ expectations regarding future rates of inflation.
Or, simply put:
Market rate of interest = real rate + expected inflation
Real rate requirement is assumed to be relatively stable.
Changes only occur slowly in response to technology
changes, population growth, population skills, etc.
Inflationary expectations, however, are subject to
potentially wide variations over short periods of time.
Estimating the Real Rate
Requirement for the United States
The Fisher Effect and the U.S.
Fisher Effect: International Assumptions
On an international level, the Fisher Model assumes
that the real rate requirement is similar across major
industrial countries.
How realistic is this assumption (see next slide)?
Thus any observed market interest rate differences
between counties is accounted for on the basis of
differences in inflation expectations.
Example:
If the United States 1 year market interest rate is 5% and
the United Kingdom 1 year market interest rate is 7%, then:
The expected rate of inflation over the next 12 months must
be 2% higher in the U.K. compared to the U.S.
Real Rate Requirements
Part 2: International Fisher Effect
The second part of the Fisher model, the International
Fisher (IFE) effect assumes that:
Changes in spot exchange rates are related to differences in
market interest rates between countries.
Why this assumption?
Because differences in interest rates capture differences in
expected inflation.
IFE relationship to Exchange Rates
Currencies of high interest rate countries will weaken.
Why: These countries have high inflationary expectations