How to Read a LIBOR Index | Sapling

How to Read a LIBOR Index

How to Read a LIBOR Index
Written By
Louise Jones
Louise Jones
Nov 2, 2010
2 minute read
...
The LIBOR index is used to decide loan or mortgage rates.

LIBOR is an acronym for London Interbank Offered Rate: a rate of interest calculated based on the information provided by London banks. A group of banks from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) respond daily to a speculative question regarding how much it would cost them to borrow a specific amount of money over various short time periods: one month, three months, six months or a year. The answers provided by the banks help calculate the LIBOR index.

Reading the LIBOR Index

Step 1

Open your Internet browser and navigate to liborated.com.

Step 2

Find the appropriate time frame from the box holding the LIBOR rates (it appears to the left of the window screen); "1 M" for a one-month rate, "2 M" for a two-month rate and so on.

Step 3

Use the figure given next to the time scale as a percentage; for example, if the figure next to "2 M" given is 0.28906, the approximate inter-bank interest rate for a loan over two months would be 0.28906 percent. This would normally round up to 0.29 percent.

Louise Jones

Louise Jones has been a technical writer since 2006 and is the director of a technical writing company, providing literature for U.K. construction firms such as MITIE and Balfour Beatty. Her work also appears on various websites, focusing…

Sponsored
Sapling Logo

We demystify personal finance and make financial adulting easier. From student loans to credit and investing, all the money questions you were ever afraid to ask are right here.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.