With the publication of the “Bezugszins” interest rate (10-year zero-coupon euro swap rate) for September 2022 by the Bundesbank, the (“Referenzzins”) reference interest rate for the calculation of the “ZInszusatzreserve” (ZZR) is fixed as of 31 December 2022. It is 1.57%, as in the previous year.
The calculation method of the reference interest rate according to the publication in the Bundesgesetzblatt Teil I as of 22.10.2018 (so-called corridor method) uses the mean value of the “Bezugszins” interest rate of the first nine months of the current financial year and the annual mean values of the preceding nine years. A relative and absolute comparison with the reference interest rate of the previous year ensures that the deviation is not too large, both downwards and upwards.
In concrete terms, the calculation for 31.12.2022 is as follows:
- Value according to §5 paragraph 3 sentence 4 DeckRV (9-month average current year *)) =.
(0,459 + 0,791 + 1,197 + 1,732 + 1,860 + 2,176 + 1,654 + 2,424 + 3,072) / 9 = 1,71. - Value according to §5 paragraph 3 sentence 5 DeckRV (average over 10 years) =
(1,96 + 1,42 + 0,87 + 0,51 + 0,85 + 0,96 + 0,23 – 0,19 + 0,09 + 1,71) / 10 = 0,8410. - First difference according to §5 DeckRV paragraph 3 sentence 6 (mean value minus old reference interest rate) =0.8410 – 1.57 = -0.729 rounded up to the next higher second decimal place = -0.73
- Second difference according to §5 DeckRV paragraph 3 sentence 6 = 9% * 1.71 – 9% * 1.57 = 0.0126 rounded up to the next higher second decimal place = 0.02
- The signs of both differences are not identical, therefore the reference interest rate remains unchanged from the previous year.
*) The annual average is rounded up to two decimal places in accordance with §5(3) sentence 3 DeckRV. Here, “round up” is interpreted as “round up away from zero” (cf. BaFin explanations on the ZZR calculation).
Source zero-coupon euro interest rate swap rates: Deutsche Bundesbank