The recent rise in Libor rates is a dire warning to borrowers that interest rates won't be dropping any time soon, according to a report issued by Merrill Lynch. The investment bank points out that the widely followed London InterBank Offered Rate currently shows that rates across various maturities are above their historic norms. "While there are many reasons for this, it can be largely attributed to heightened counterparty risk and, more recently, concerns about year-end funding pressures," Merrill asserts in a new report.