Problem on financial manager responsibilites

Question

Assume that you are a financial manager of Yuen Cheong Manufacturng Company. Due to the rising demand of product X, Yuen Cheong Manufacturng Company decides to open a new production plant in China, so it needs to take a loan of US$1 million. Bank A offers Yuen Cheong Manufacturing Company the two choices of loan shown below:

i) borrowing cash at 12% per annum, compounded annually
ii) borrowing gold at 3% per annum, compounded annually.

Assume the risk-free interest rate is 9.5% per annum and storage costs are 0.5% per annum, both are expressed with continuous compounding.

Evaluate which loan you should choose from Bank A. Discuss and explain briefly whether the rate of interest on the gold is too high or too low in the relation of rate of interest on cash loan.

Answer 1

When borrowing is made in gold , the repayment has to be made in the form of gold as per agreed terms. If  100 ounces of gold is borrowed from the bank at 3% per annum, it means that repayment of the gold to the bank  should be 103 ounces. If the gold value increases then the repayment will be at a higher amount apart from the 3% appreciation in the quantity of gold which may be more than the rate of interest on cash loan.  Hence a comparison would be difficult between the two.

Hence if the gold is not expected to have a steep increase then cash loan from the bank should be the ideal choice.