Assume that Walmart is considering opening a store in Argentina. Argentina is rate BB-, and its dollar-based bonds trade at a default spread of 3% over the US treasury bond rate of 6.5%. The Argentine equity market is 1.8 times more volatile than the Argentine long-term bond market. Walmart has a beta of 0.9 (already relevered to account for the Argentinian tax rate of 35% and Argentinian D/E ratio). The market risk premium in the United States is 5.5%. The firm intends to borrow in Argentina at a local rate of 12% (in pesos) and maintain a debt ratio of 25% for Argentine projects. You can assume that the inflation rate in the United States is 3% whereas it is 9% in Argentina.

(a) Explain what we mean by the inflation rate in the above description.

(b) Estimate the cost of equity and the cost of capital in dollar terms for the Argentine store.

3. Estimate the cost of equity and capital in peso terms of the Argentine store.