stariston

In the light of the kiwi dollar and the intervention of the RBNZ

HOW TRUE IS IT THAT YOU COULD HAVE LENT SOME YEN FOR NEXT
TO NOTHING IN JAPAN PUT IT IN A KIWI BANK AND EARNED 8% IN INTREST
AND THE GOVERNMENT HAVE ONLY JUST WORKED IT OUT

any finance types out there who can shed any light seems like
easy money or is it

Avid

AAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!!! A question about Japan!!!!!

To answer your question. Whilst Japanese bank saving accounts have an interest rate of 0%, Japanese banks charge up to 20% for personal loans so it wouldn't really be so easy to make a killing as an individual investor.

Add to this the fact that you wouldn't just be playing with interest rates but exchange rates as well. This can play havoc with your investment.

Thirdly, Japanese banks aren't going to lend money to a non-Japanese that just walks in off the street. You'd probably have to be living or working in Japan to have a chance of a cash loan.


The only realistic way to use Japanese interest rates to make money is to somehow get a Japanese mortgage on a property (2% interest rate, on average) but, again, the exchange rates make this a very dangerous game for the smaller investor.

brussels_sprout

Interest rates vary only by a few percent, 5 to 15, say, but exchange rates (in NZD's case) vary by up to 30-50%, so if you try to do that at the wrong time, you will lose out in a big way. If you borrow Japanese Yen and put it into a NZD account, you will get more interest on your money, but when you come to convert it back to Yen, then you may have lost out due the exchange rate.
Of course, if you time it right, you can make lots too !

Avid

You could go to the travel agents, buy a lot of yen and just wait and pray that the exchange rates change sufficiently in a year or so to make a killing.

In my time in Japan I saw the yen/pound rate swing from as low as 130yen/pound to the current rate of about 240.

If it you buy today and it goes back to 130 you'll almost double your money....

Or you could just flush it down the toilet and save time...

brussels_sprout

As with most gambling, gamblers will tell you all about their great wins never about all the losses (most of the time), the person who benefits the most is the bookie or stockbroker (bookies sometimes have the best outfits too, Avid)

Yes, i would have lent some yen for this dilemer (sic)