Suppose the term structure of interest rates for U.S. government bonds is “flat” meaning that short (1-year maturity) and long (20-year maturity) term rates have the same expected actual return, say 3 percent. (This was the case a few years ago.) What would that mean about the market’s expectations for interest rate changes?
The term structure of interest rates describes the differing YTMs for similar government bonds. Normally, a term structure is upward sloping implying that long-term rates are greater than short-term rates. A positive curve rate implies that investors require a higher rate of return to compensate the risk for holding the bond for a greater time period.Investors expect strong economic growth in the future, leading to higher inflation and thus, to higher interest rates.
If the term structure becomes flat, then long-term rates are becoming equal to short-term rates. It implies that investors are uncertain about the future economic growth and thus, do not require high interest rates compared to the short-term rates.
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