"basis" or the spread between two interest rates. Since the basis is usually small, these are quoted multiplied up by 10,000, and hence a "full point" movement in the "basis" is a basis point. Contrast with pips in FX forward markets. Expense ratios of investment funds are often quoted in basis points. Permyriad A related concept is one part per ten thousand, . The same unit is also (rarely) called a permyriad, literally meaning "for (every) myriad (ten thousand)". If used interchangeably with basis point, the permyriad is potentially confusing because an increase of one basis point to a 10 basis point value is generally understood to mean an increase to 11 basis points; not an increase of one part in ten thousand, meaning an increase to 10.001 basis points. This is akin to the difference between percentage and percentage point. Unicode A permyriad is written with which looks like a percent sign with three zeroes to the right of the slash. (It can be regarded as a stylized form of the four zeros in the denominator of "", although it originates as a natural extension of the percent and permille signs.) Related units Percentage point difference of 1 part in 100 Percentage (%) 1 part in 100 Per mille (‰) 1 part in 1,000 Per cent mille (pcm) 1 part in 100,000 Parts per million (ppm) 1 part in 1,000,000 See also Parts-per notation Per-unit system Percent point function Tick size References External links Fixed income Typographical symbols Interest rates Operations of central banks