Rates Could Go to 9% if Soaring Inflation Persists Says Fund Manager Mark Mobius

By Sam Boughedda

Veteran Fund manager Mark Mobius told Bloomberg TV on Monday that he believes interest rates will surge to a three-decade high of 9%.

The co-founder of Mobius Capital Partners told Bloomberg that if is 8%, the “playbook says you’ve got to raise higher than inflation, which means 9%.” In addition, Mobius doesn’t see inflation slowing down anytime soon.

Bloomberg explained that the forecast likely stems from the Taylor Rule, which indicates an optimal policy rate by assessing price pressures and the labor market.

Despite inflation easing at the last reading, it was still hotter than expected, coming in at 8.2%.

Mobius believes investors should be cautious with commodities as demand may ease. He stated that people that are buying commodities are “sitting on weaker and weaker currencies” and that we will probably see a downturn in commodity prices, while he urged caution on companies with high debt-equity ratios and low returns on capital.

Mobius added that those two parameters are “very, very crucial in this day and age” due to the problem with currencies and high inflation.

The fund manager told Bloomberg he is putting money in emerging markets such as India, Taiwan, Brazil and a little in Turkey and Vietnam.