Treasury bills have a fixed face value (say, $1,000) and pay interest by selling at a discount.

Question:

Treasury bills have a fixed face value (say, $1,000) and pay interest by selling at a discount. For example, if a one-year bill with a $1,000 face value sells today for $950, it will pay $1,000 – $950 = $50 in interest over its life. The interest rate on the bill is therefore $50/$950 = 0.0526, or 5.26 percent.

a. Suppose the price of the Treasury bill falls to $925. What happens to the interest rate?

b. Suppose, instead, that the price rises to $975. What is the interest rate now?

c. Now generalize this example. Let P be the price of the bill and r be the interest rate. Develop an algebraic formula expressing r in terms of P.

Show that this formula illustrates the point made in the text: Higher bond prices mean lower interest rates.

Face Value
Face value is a financial term used to describe the nominal or dollar value of a security, as stated by its issuer. For stocks, the face value is the original cost of the stock, as listed on the certificate. For bonds, it is the amount paid to the...