Banks' Net Interest Margin and the Level of Interest Rates

The prevailing view in the literature is that, in the long run, an increase in the level of interest rates will impact positively on banks' net interest margins. Using a time series of more than 40 years for the German banking system, we confirm this effect (the net interest margin increases by 7 basis points for every 100 basis point increase in the interest rate level). What is more, we show that the opposite effect exists in the short run. In addition, we analyze the consequences of the low-interest-rate environment and find that banks' interest margins on retail deposits, especially term deposits, have declined by up to 97 basis points

Representativeness of Knowledge Bases with the Generalized Benford’s Law

International audienc

A two-factor model of the German term structure of interest rates

This paper shows that a two-factor constant volatility model provides an adequate description of the dynamics and shape of the German term structure of interest rates from 1972 up to 1998. The model also provides reasonable estimates of the volatility and term premium curves. Following the conjecture that the two factors driving the German term structure of interest rates represent the ex-ante real interest rate and the expected inflation rate, the identification of one factor with expected inflation is discussed. The estimates are obtained using a Kalman filter and a maximum likelihood procedure including in the measurement equation both the yields and their volatilities.