Federal Reserve Bulletin, Volume 95, 2009   Current Bulletin

Profits and Balance Sheet Developments at U.S. Commercial Banks in 2008

Figure 30. Interest-payment ratio for nonfinancial corporations, 1990-2008.

Data are plotted as a curve. The interest-payment ratio begins at about 20 percent in 1990, falls fairly steadily to about 11 percent in 1996 and 1997, rises to about 17 percent in 2001, falls to about 9 percent by the end of 2006, and edges up, on balance, to slightly more than 10 percent by the end of 2008.

NOTE: The data are quarterly. The interest-payment ratio is calculated as interest payments as a percentage of cash flow.

SOURCE: National income and product accounts and Federal Reserve Board.

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