In: Finance
While you were visiting Munich, you purchased a Range Rover for €100,000, payable in six months. You have enough cash in US dollars at your bank in NY City, which pays 3% interest for six months, to pay for the car. Currently, the spot exchange rate is $1.35/€ and the six-month forward exchange rate is $1.30/€. In Munich, the money market interest rate is 4% for six months. There are two alternative ways of paying for your Range Rover.
a. Keep the funds at your bank in the US and buy €100,000 forward.
b. Buy a certain amount of € spot today and invest the amount in Germany for six months so that the maturity value becomes equal to €100,000. Evaluate each payment method in terms of $ cost. Which method would you prefer? Why?
The Range Rover price is €100,000, payable in six months.
Spot Rate: 1 € = 1.35 $
6 months Forward Rate: 1 € = 1.30 $
Interest Rate on Investment in Munich is 4 % for 6 months
Interest Rate on Investment in NY City is 3 % for 6 months
Option (a): Keep the funds at your bank in the US and buy €100,000 forward.
Here bank in NY City Pays 3% interest for 6 months
Total Payment to be made in dollar after 6 months = 100,000 * 1.30
= $ 130000
Amount of dollar required as on today:
= 130000/ (1+i)
i= 3% rate of interest for 6 months
= 130000/(1.03)
= $ 126213.60
Therefore in option (a), there is requirement of $ 126213.60 to repay €100,000 in six months.
Option (b) : Buy a certain amount of € spot today and invest the amount in Germany for six months so that the maturity value becomes equal to €100,000
As interest rate in Munich is 4% for 6 months, amount of € required to repay €100,000 is as follow:
= 100000/(1+i)
i= 4% rate of interest for 6 months
= 100000/1.04
= € 96153.85
Amount of $ Required to buy € 96153.85
Spot Rate is 1 € = 1.35 $
Therefore, $ required = 96153.85*1.35= $ 129807.70
COMPARISON | |
Option | Outflow of $ |
(a) | 126213.6 |
(b) | 129807.7 |
Therefore Option (a) should be preferred.