Profits and Balance Sheet Developments at U.S. Commercial Banks in 2006
Figure 24. Interest-payment ratio for businesses, and financial obligations ratio for households, 1990-2006. Data plotted as curves. Two panels. In the top panel, the interest-payment ratio for nonfinancial corporations begins at about 20 percent in 1990, generally falls to about 11 percent in 1996 and 1997, rises to about 17 percent in 2001, falls to around 9 percent in the middle of 2004, and then rises on balance to around 10 percent by the end of 2006. In the bottom panel, the financial obligations ratio for households starts in 1990 at about 17 percent, falls to about 16 percent in 1992, then generally rises to nearly 19 percent in late 2001, generally falls to about 18.5 percent by late 2004, and then rises fairly steadily to about 19.4 percent at year-end 2006.
NOTE: The data are quarterly. The interest-payment ratio is calculated as interest payments as a percentage of cash flow. The financial obligations ratio is an estimate of debt payments and recurring obligations as a percentage of disposable personal income; debt payments and recurring obligations consist of required payments on outstanding mortgage debt, consumer debt, auto leases, rent, homeowner's insurance, and property taxes.
SOURCE: For interest-payment ratio, national income and product accounts and Federal Reserve Board; for financial obligations ratio, Federal Reserve Board .