Rates Cut: Hidden Advantage

Financial storytelling is about highlighting the impact that matters to your audience.

This Week's Chart Drop

Last week, the UK reduced its interest rates by 0.25%, and the week before, South Africa did the same. The US, however, has yet to move. While it’s often assumed that South Africa follows the US when setting rates, mapping the trends shows that isn’t always the case. Nevertheless, there has been a steady decline in rates over the past year.

An interest rate cut on its own might seem like “so what?”, but if you reinvest the savings into your bond, you could shave four years off a 20-year term. Now it becomes interesting.

Design Trick

Use daily data to create a “step” effect in the interest rate line chart. Without it, smaller individual rate changes may be hard to see, and the story can get lost.

Each week, I share one simple Excel visual—from sport, business, or personal finance—to give finance professionals ideas on how to present their data.

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