Interest Rate Caps : The Theory and The Practice

Ceilings on lending rates remain a widely used policy tool that is intended to lower the overall cost of credit or protect consumers from exorbitant rates. Interest rate caps come in many forms and scopes and, according to their rationale, ceilings...

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Main Authors: Ferrari, Aurora, Masetti, Oliver, Ren, Jiemin
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/244551522770775674/Interest-rate-caps-the-theory-and-the-practice
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29668
id okr-10986-29668
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-296682022-09-20T00:14:49Z Interest Rate Caps : The Theory and The Practice Ferrari, Aurora Masetti, Oliver Ren, Jiemin INTEREST RATE CAP CREDIT SUPPLY BANKING REGULATION SME FINANCE MICROFINANCE FINANCIAL INCLUSION PREDATORY LENDING Ceilings on lending rates remain a widely used policy tool that is intended to lower the overall cost of credit or protect consumers from exorbitant rates. Interest rate caps come in many forms and scopes and, according to their rationale, ceilings can affect a small segment or the overall market. Over the past years, many countries have introduced new or tightened existing restrictions, while only a few have removed or eased them. This paper takes stock of recent developments in interest rates caps globally and classifies them according to a novel taxonomy. The paper also presents six case studies of different types of interest rate caps. The case studies indicate that while some forms of interest rate caps can indeed reduce lending rates and help to limit predatory practices by formal lenders, interest rate caps often have substantial unintended side-effects. These side-effects include increases in non-interest fees and commissions, reduced price transparency, lower credit supply and loan approval rates for small and risky borrowers, lower number of institutions and reduced branch density, as well as adverse impacts on bank profitability. Given these potential negative consequences of interest rate caps, the paper discusses alternatives to reduce the cost of credit. 2018-04-12T17:16:18Z 2018-04-12T17:16:18Z 2018-04 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/244551522770775674/Interest-rate-caps-the-theory-and-the-practice http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29668 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8398 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic INTEREST RATE CAP
CREDIT SUPPLY
BANKING REGULATION
SME FINANCE
MICROFINANCE
FINANCIAL INCLUSION
PREDATORY LENDING
spellingShingle INTEREST RATE CAP
CREDIT SUPPLY
BANKING REGULATION
SME FINANCE
MICROFINANCE
FINANCIAL INCLUSION
PREDATORY LENDING
Ferrari, Aurora
Masetti, Oliver
Ren, Jiemin
Interest Rate Caps : The Theory and The Practice
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8398
description Ceilings on lending rates remain a widely used policy tool that is intended to lower the overall cost of credit or protect consumers from exorbitant rates. Interest rate caps come in many forms and scopes and, according to their rationale, ceilings can affect a small segment or the overall market. Over the past years, many countries have introduced new or tightened existing restrictions, while only a few have removed or eased them. This paper takes stock of recent developments in interest rates caps globally and classifies them according to a novel taxonomy. The paper also presents six case studies of different types of interest rate caps. The case studies indicate that while some forms of interest rate caps can indeed reduce lending rates and help to limit predatory practices by formal lenders, interest rate caps often have substantial unintended side-effects. These side-effects include increases in non-interest fees and commissions, reduced price transparency, lower credit supply and loan approval rates for small and risky borrowers, lower number of institutions and reduced branch density, as well as adverse impacts on bank profitability. Given these potential negative consequences of interest rate caps, the paper discusses alternatives to reduce the cost of credit.
format Working Paper
author Ferrari, Aurora
Masetti, Oliver
Ren, Jiemin
author_facet Ferrari, Aurora
Masetti, Oliver
Ren, Jiemin
author_sort Ferrari, Aurora
title Interest Rate Caps : The Theory and The Practice
title_short Interest Rate Caps : The Theory and The Practice
title_full Interest Rate Caps : The Theory and The Practice
title_fullStr Interest Rate Caps : The Theory and The Practice
title_full_unstemmed Interest Rate Caps : The Theory and The Practice
title_sort interest rate caps : the theory and the practice
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2018
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/244551522770775674/Interest-rate-caps-the-theory-and-the-practice
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29668
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