Lending Rate Borrowing Rate
U.S. dollar 8.0% 8.3%
Mexican peso 8.5% 8.7%
Assume that Blue Demon Bank has a borrowing capacity of either $10 million or 70 million peos in the interbank market, depending on which currency it wants to borrow.
a. How could Blue Demon Bank attempt to capitalize on its expectations without using deposited funds? Estimate the profits that could be generated from this strategy.
ANSWER: Blue Demon Bank can capitalize on its expectations about pesos (MXP) as follows:
1. Borrow MXP70 million
2. Convert the MXP70 million to dollars:
MXP70,000,000 × $.15 = $10,500,000
3. Lend the dollars through the interbank market at 8.0% annualized over a 10day period. The amount accumulated in 10 days is:
$10,500,000 × [1 + (8% × 10/360)] = $10,500,000 × [1.002222] = $10,523,333
4. Repay the peso loan. The repayment amount on the peso loan is:
MXP70,000,000 × [1 + (8.7% × 10/360)] = 70,000,000 × [1.002417]=MXP70,169,167
5. Based on the expected spot rate of $.14, the amount of dollars needed to repay the peso loan is:
MXP70,169,167 × $.14 = $9,823,683
6. After repaying the loan, Blue Demon Bank will have a speculative profit (if its forecasted exchange rate is accurate) of:
$10,523,333 – $9,823,683 = $699,650
b. Assume all the preceding information with this exception: Blue Demon Bank expects the peso to appreciate from its present spot rate of $.15 to $.17 in 30 days. How could it attempt to capitalize on its expectations without using deposited funds? Estimate the profits that could be generated from this strategy.
ANSWER: Blue Demon Bank can capitalize on its expectations as follows:
1. Borrow $10 million
2. Convert the $10 million to pesos (MXP):
$10,000,000/$.15 = MXP66,666,667
3. Lend the pesos through the interbank market at 8.5% annualized over a 30day period. The amount accumulated in 30 days is:
MXP66,666,667 × [1 + (8.5% × 30/360)] = 66,666,667 × [1.007083] = MXP67,138,889
1. Repay the dollar loan. The repayment amount on the dollar loan is:
$10,000,000 × [1 + (8.3% × 30/360)] = $10,000,000 × [1.006917] = $10,069,170
5. Convert the pesos to dollars to repay the loan. The amount of dollars to be received in 30 days (based on the expected spot rate of $.17) is:
MXP67,138,889 × $.17 = $11,413,611
6. The profits are determined by estimating the dollars available after repaying the loan:
$11,413,611 – $10,069,170 = $1,344,441
21. Speculation. Diamond Bank expects that the Singapore dollar will depreciate against the dollar from its spot rate of $.43 to $.42 in 60 days. The following interbank lending and borrowing rates exist:
Lending Rate Borrowing Rate
U.S. dollar 7.0% 7.2%
Singapore dollar 22.0% 24.0%
Diamond Bank considers borrowing 10 million Singapore dollars in the interbank market and investing the funds in dollars for 60 days. Estimate the profits (or losses) that could be earned from this strategy. Should Diamond Bank pursue this strategy?
ANSWER:
Borrow S$10,000,000 and convert to U.S. $:
S$10,000,000 × $.43 = $4,300,000
Invest funds for 60 days. The rate earned in the U.S. for 60 days is:
7% × (60/360) = 1.17%
Total amount accumulated in 60 days:
$4,300,000 × (1 + .0117) = $4,350,310
Convert U.S. $ back to S$ in 60 days:
$4,350,310/$.42 = S$10,357,881
The rate to be paid on loan is:
.24 × (60/360) = .04
Amount owed on S$ loan is:
S$10,000,000 × (1 + .04) = S$10,400,000
This strategy results in a loss:
S$10,357,881 – S$10,400,000 = –S$42,119
Diamond Bank should not pursue this strategy.
26. Speculation on Expected Exchange Rates. Kurnick Co. expects that the pound will depreciate from $1.70 to $1.68 in one year. It has no money to invest, but it could borrow money to invest. It has been approved by a bank to borrow either 1 million dollars or 1 million pounds for one year. It can borrow dollars at 6% or Bitish pounds at 5% for one year. It can invest in a risk-free dollar deposit at 5% for one year or a risk-free British deposit at 4% for one year. Determine the expected profit or loss (in dollars) if Kurnick Co. pursues a strategy to capitalize on the expected depreciation of the pound.
ANSWER: Initial amount borrowed = 1,000,000 pounds
Dollars received when the pounds are converted to
dollars = 1,000,000 * 1.70 = $1,700,000.
Total dollar amount at the end of 1 year = $1,700,000 x 1.05= $1,785,000.
Total owed on the pounds borrowed = 1,000,000*1.05 = 1,050,000 pounds.
Expected amount of dollars needed to repay the loan = 1,050,000 x 1.68 = $1,764,000.
Profit = $1,785,000 – $1,764,000 = $21,000.