Riverton Mining plans to purchase or lease $220,000 worth of excavation equipment. If purchased, the equipment will be depreciated on a straight-line basis over 5 years, after which it will be worthless. If leased, the annual lease payments will be $55,000 per year for 5 years.

a) If Riverton purchases the equipment, what is the amount of the lease-equivalent loan?

b) Is Riverton better off leasing the equipment or financing the purchase using the lease equivalent loan?

c) What is the effective after-tax lease borrowing rate? How does this compare to Rivertons actual after-tax borrowing rate?