《財(cái)務(wù)管理基礎(chǔ)（英文版·第16版）/工商管理經(jīng)典教材·會計(jì)與財(cái)務(wù)系列》：

　　The prime rate is the rate a bank charges its most creditworthy customers.and a premium is added as a customer's credit risk gets higher.At certain slack loan periods in the economy， or because of international competition， banks may actually charge top customers less than the published prime rate； however， such activities are difficult to track.The average customer can expect to pay one or two percentage points above prime， while in tight money periods a builder in a speculative construction project might have to pay five or more percentage points over prime.

　　Since the U.S.dollar is the world's international currency， and because the United States has run up huge foreign trade deficits over the last 10 years， there are several tril—lion dollars floating around the world's money markets.London is the center of Eurodollar deposits， and a majority of these U.S.dollars can be found there.Because U.S.companies can borrow dollars from London banks quite easily， large borrowers shop for the lowest interest rate in London， New York， or any other major money market center.This means that the U.S.prime rate competes with the London Interbank Offered Rate （LIBOR） for companies with an international presence or those sophisticated enough to use the London Eurodollar market for loans.For example， in January 2015，LIBOR one—year loans were at 0.63 percent versus a U.S.prime rate of 3.25 percent.A loan at 1.0 or 2.0 percent above LIBOR would still be less than the U.S.prime rate.

　　Figure 8—1 shows the relationship between LIBOR and the prime rate between December 1997 and January 1， 2015.Notice that during this period the prime rate was always higher than LIBOR.

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