The Intraday Price of Money: evidence from the e-mid interbank market

We provide empirical evidence, based on tick-by-tick data for the e-MID euro area interbank market covering 2003 and 2004, that the overnight interest rate shows a clear downward pattern throughout the operating day. Thus, a positive hourly interest rate (half basis point) implicitly emerges from the intraday term structure of the overnight rate. Such a pattern was not detected in the mid-1990s: we explain this evolution as an outcome of the recent trend toward real-time settlement. The estimated intraday interest rate is lower than in the United States: this is due to the different cost of central bank daylight credit.