The percentage rate of interest which a bank or other lender deducts in advance from loans made, or from the face value of bills of exchange or commercial paper bought. It is calculated for the period from presentation to maturity of the instrument. The amount of the discount rate depends on the liquidity of the financial markets and the party liable under the bill. Swiss commercial banks apply the private discount rate in their discounting operations; as a rule, this is higher than the official discount rate of the Swiss National Bank.