Definition: Interest-rate-linked derivatives

Category: External debt - IMF

Derivatives whose value is linked to interest rates. The most common are: 

• Interest rate swaps, which involve an exchange of cash flows related to interest payments, or receipts, on a notional amount of principal in one currency over a period of time; 

• Forward rate agreements, in which a cash settlement is made by one party to another calculated by the difference between a market interest rate of a specified maturity in one currency on a specific date and an agreed interest rate, times a notional amount of principal that is never exchanged (if the market rate is above the agreed rate, one party will agree to make a cash settlement to the other, and vice versa); and 

• Interest rate options that give the purchaser the right to buy or sell a specified notional value at a specified interest rate—the price traded is 100 less the agreed interest rate, with settlement based on the difference between the market rate and the specified rate times the notional value. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/statmanuals/files/external_debt_guide_2003_EN.pdf#page=227