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XYZ Limited is planning an expansion of its Australian operations in three months time (90 days). In order to fund this investment, XYZ will need to borrow $25 million through the issue of commercial paper for six months (180 days). The CFO believes that interest rates will fall over the next three months, but recent poor profitability means that the company is under pressure to obtain funding at no worse than the current yield. (use 365 days in a year)

You have access to the following yield data:

Instrument	Today	3-months
Commercial paper	6.00%	7.25%
180-day bank-accepted bills futures contract	93.75%	92.50%

Calculate the effective cost of funds achieved with this hedging strategy

Select one:

a. 6.020%

b. 6.003%

c. 6.501%

d. 8.501%