Libor Increase May Add Billions to Interest Payments, WSJ Says
By Joseph Galante
April 21 (Bloomberg) -- The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, which rose to its highest in nearly six weeks on Friday, may mean billions of dollars more in interest payments for companies and homeowners around the world, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Libor rose for a second day after the British Bankers' Association started investigating whether members were understating the rates they pay so as not to spook investors, the Journal said.
If the trend continues, the Libor may add about $18 billion in annual interest costs to the $900 billion in subprime mortgages that adjust to its movements twice a year and the nearly $9 trillion in debt companies have pegged to the benchmark rate, the Journal said, citing data from Dealogic.
A rise in the Libor would be disastrous for companies that borrowed heavily using floating-rate debt, betting the Libor would decline, the newspaper added, citing Peter Fitzgerald, chief financial officer at Radco Cos. in Atlanta.