the cost, often annual, paid by a borrower to a lender over a period of time. It is intended to compensate a lender for the sacrifice of losing immediate use of money and for the inflationary erosion of its buying power over the life of the loan and for the risk involved in lending the money. Interest rates are sensitively responsive to the supply and demand factors of credit and to inflationary expectations., hind, mis makstakse raha laenuksvõtu eest mingiks perioodiks; tavaliselt väljendatakse põhisumma protsentidena aastas