Interest rates on government borrowing (as a %) Source: OECD Interest rates are determined by three factors: the price that lenders charge for postponing consumption, the risk that the borrower may not repay the capital and the fall in the real value of the capital that the lender expects to occur because of inflation during the lifetime of the loan. The interest rates shown here refer to government borrowing and the risk factor is very low. To an important extent the interest rates in this table are driven by the expected rates of inflation. From 1993 long-term interest rates fell for a few years but edged upwards again in 1994/1995. Since then they have been falling steadily in most member countries, but have starting to rise again in 2006. For the 20 member countries in the table for which data are available for the full period from 1993 to 2006,
