EASIER BOND REPAYMENTS

10 March 2009 - 02:00
By unknown

Those struggling to meet bond repayments can look forward to lower than originally thought interest rates in the short-term.

Those struggling to meet bond repayments can look forward to lower than originally thought interest rates in the short-term.

Mark Appleton, chief investment officer at Barnard Jacobs Mellet Private Client Services, says his firm now estimates an upward of 350 basis point cut still to come.

This means rates could come down a further 3,5 percent in the months ahead.

Lower rates means smaller bond repayment bills for home buyers and lower risk-free returns for cash savers and investors in fixed-interest products.

According to Appleton, increasingly modest yields outside the share market will encourage a return to equity investment.

But, he advises investors to be cautious on the equity front: "While we remain of the view that there is long-term value in the equity market, we also believe it to be prudent to continue to adopt a cautious stance with regard to growth assets until the global outlook starts to clear". - Isaac Moledi