Fixed-Income Securities and Derivatives Handbook, Second Edition

CHAPTER 14

Inflation-Indexed Bonds

Certain countries have markets in bonds whose coupon or final redemption payment, or both, are linked to their consumer price indexes. Generally, the most liquid markets in these inflation-indexed, or index-linked, debt instruments are the ones for government issues. Investors’ experiences with the bonds differ, since the securities were introduced at different times in different markets and so are designed differently. In some markets, for instance, only the coupon payment, and not the redemption value, is index-linked. This makes comparisons in terms of factors such as yield difficult and has in the past hindered arbitrageurs seeking to exploit real yield differences. This chapter highlights the basic concepts ...