March 20, 2010, 02:15 CET
Interest rates, yields
Money market rates (money market rates reported by Frankfurt banks, EONIA, EURIBOR); yields on debt securities outstanding issued by residents, by category of securities and by residual maturity; term structure of interest rates in the debt securities market; central bank interest rates; MFI interest rate statistics; discount interest rates pursuant to section 253 (2) of the German Commercial Code
Money market rates
The money market is the trading centre for short-term loans and securities. By this general definition, the money market is the counterpart of the capital market, where long-term financial contracts are concluded. In international and national statistics, it is customary to calculate maturities of up to (and including) one year in the money market sector.
On the market for central bank money, which is usually described as money market in the narrower sense, it is mainly the commercial banks that act in concert to offset individual entities’ liquidity surpluses or deficits. The interest rates published here refer to the interbank money market.
| st0304 | st0310 | st0316 | st0325 | st0334 | st0343 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Eonia | MEuribor | 3MEuribor | 6MEuribor | 9MEuribor | 12MEuribor |
| 2010-03-19 | . | 0.401 | 0.642 | 0.951 | 1.089 | 1.214 |
| 2010-03-18 | 0.332 | 0.402 | 0.643 | 0.951 | 1.089 | 1.214 |
| 2010-03-17 | 0.328 | 0.404 | 0.644 | 0.951 | 1.090 | 1.215 |
| 2010-03-16 | 0.321 | 0.406 | 0.646 | 0.955 | 1.092 | 1.217 |
| 2010-03-15 | 0.333 | 0.406 | 0.646 | 0.956 | 1.093 | 1.219 |
| 2010-03-14 | . | . | . | . | . | . |
Yields on debt securities outstanding
Unlike the nominal interest rate, the bond yield indicates the interest actually received per annum. For more information on this topic, see "Computation of yields" on pp 22-23 of the Statistical Supplement 2 Capital market statistics.
Term structure of interest rates in the debt securities market
The term structure of interest rates in the debt securities market shows the relation between the interest rates and maturities of zero coupon bonds without a default risk. The data on the term structure of interest rates published here are estimates derived from the observed yield to maturity of coupon bonds outstanding. For more information on this topic, see "Calculation of data on the term structure of interest rates" on pp 23-24 of the Statistical Supplement 2 Capital market statistics and "Estimating the term structure of interest rates" on pp 61-66 of the October 1997 edition of the Monthly Report.
MFI interest rate statistics
MFI interest rate statistics concern the interest rates that domestic banks (MFIs) in Germany charge on euro-denominated deposits by and loans to households and non-financial corporations domiciled in the euro area. Information on both outstanding amounts at the end of the month and new business within a month is collected.
Discount interest rates pursuant to section 253 (2) of the German Commercial Code
The Act to Modernise Accounting Law (Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Bilanzrechts or BilMoG) came into force on 29 May 2009. Among other things, this act sets forth that provisions with a residual maturity of more than one year are, in accordance with their residual maturity, to be discounted at the average market interest rate of the last seven financial years. The Deutsche Bundesbank has been given the task of calculating these discount interest rates and publishing them on a monthly basis. The method of calculation and publication details are set forth in the Regulation on the Discounting of Provisions (Rückstellungsabzinsungsverordnung or RückAbzinsV).
The discount interest rates can be found by following the link below.
The Bundesbank also publishes, as a memo item, the zero-coupon euro swap curve which is used to calculate the discount interest rates.
Monetary advantage of employer loans
In its notification of 1 October 2008 (IV C 5 – S 2334/07/0009), the Federal Ministry of Finance set forth new regulations for the assessment of monetary advantage within the context of employer loans. This notification replaces the Federal Ministry of Finance’s notification of 13 June 2007 (Federal Tax Gazette I, p 502) and applies to all outstanding cases. Since the Bundesbank’s interest rate statistics are compiled on a sample basis, only overall statistics are available for Germany (paragraphs 8, 10, and 11). No regional data (paragraphs 4 and 13) are available.
The Bundesbank compiles interest rate statistics for the purpose of monetary analysis and also makes these available to the public. The extent to which interest rate statistics can be used as a yardstick for calculating monetary advantage in the case of employer loans is beyond the scope of influence of the Bundesbank; questions on this topic can be addressed to the responsible bodies (Federal Ministry of Finance, Berlin, or the regional tax offices).
Loans concluded since January 2003
According to paragraph 8 and paragraph 10 of the above notification of the Federal Ministry of Finance, the effective interest rates determined and last published by the Bundesbank for comparable reference credits to households should be extracted from the interest rate statistics in the month in which the contract is signed (with a haircut of 4%) and used to determine the market interest rate (benchmark interest rate). The monthly publication dates can be found in the publication calendar. Please note that the statistics for the respective current dates are always provisional. Changes to the effective interest rates owing to subsequent corrections, which are shown in the following month, are not marked separately. According to the Federal Ministry of Finance’s notification, the MFI interest rate statistics calculated for new business and broken down by intended purpose of the loan (consumer loan, other loans and housing loans) are decisive. Tables and time series from the beginning of data collection in January 2003 are available for download free of charge from the Bundesbank’s website at the following links.
- Tables: Current MFI interest rate statistics
- Times series: MFI Interest rate statistics from January 2003 (here: for new business, loans to households)
MFI Interest rate statistics have only been compiled in a uniform manner in all euro-area countries since January 2003. They supersede the Bundesbank’s previous interest rate statistics, which were stopped at the end of the June 2003 reference month. Owing to methodological differences, both sets of statistics are comparable with each other to a limited extent only. Further information can be found in the Monthly report article “The new MFI interest rate statistics – methodology for collecting the German data” and in the “Comparison of euro-area interest rate statistics with the Bundesbank’s previous interest rate statistics” (German only).
Loans concluded before January 2003
Interest rate data relating to dates prior to January 2003 can be taken from the Bundesbank’s previous interest rate statistics. Data derived using both methodologies are available for the period between January 2003 and June 2003.
In the Bundesbank’s previous interest rate statistics (until June 2003), average interest rates were calculated and published as the unweighted arithmetic averages of the reported interest rates within the spread for new business generated for some typical types of loan (including instalment loans and mortgage loans secured by residential real estate). The ceiling and floor of the spreads were ascertained by eliminating the reports in the top 5% and the bottom 5% of the interest rate range. According to the wording of the Federal Ministry of Finance’s notification, the floor of the spread (without the 4% haircut) is used to calculate monetary advantage. The average interest rates and spreads can be found by following the links below.
Interest rates for instalment loans (March 1968 to June 2003)
- Tables – Instalment loans (german only)
- Time series – Personal credit lines granted to individuals and instalment loans
Interest rates for mortgage loans secured by residential real estate (June 1967 to June 2003)
- Tables – Mortgage loans secured by residential real estate (german only)
- Time series – Mortgage loans secured by residential real estate
