## Figure 2.1. Interest Rates, Term Spreads, and Volatility in Advanced Economies

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Figure 2.1. Interest Rates, Term Spreads, and Volatility in Advanced Economies](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/gfsr/2017/april/figure2-1.pdf)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/-/media/files/publications/gfsr/2017/april/figure2-1.pdf.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/-/media/files/publications/gfsr/2017/april/figure2-1.pdf.json)

---

### Panel summaries and key findings
- 1. Real Short-Term Interest Rates, 1983–2015 (Percent)
  - "Real interest rates have been decreasing over the past three decades."
- 2. Selected Three-Month Treasury Bill Yields, 1999–2015 (Percent)
  - "Nominal interest rates have fallen."
- 3. Term Spreads, 1999–2015 (Percent)
  - "Yield curves have flattened."
  - Term spreads are defined as the difference in yield between a 10-year government bond and a three-month Treasury bill.
- 4. Standard Deviation of 10-Year Yields (Units)
  - "Interest rate volatility has declined."
  - Low-for-long periods in panel 4 are defined as those when the 10-year yield was less than 2 percent.

### Countries and periods shown
- Countries depicted: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan.
- Time coverage referenced in figure labels and axes: 1983–2015; 1999–2015; specific year markers include 1983 86 89 92 95 98 2001 04 07 10 13 15 (as shown on the figure).

*Sources: Thomson Reuters Datastream; IMF, World Economic Outlook database; and IMF staff calculations.*

---


_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/gfsr/2017/april/figure2-1.pdf_