Answer
$\approx 16.42\%$
Work Step by Step
From section 6-7, we have a theorem:
The effective rate of interest $r_{e}$ of an investment earning an annual interest rate $r$ is given by
Compounding $n$ times per year: $r_{e}=\displaystyle \left(1+\frac{r}{n}\right)^{n}-1$
Continuous compounding: $\quad r_{e}=e^{r}-1$
Here, the compounding is monthly, so
$ r_{e}=\displaystyle \left(1+\frac{0.153}{12}\right)^{12}-1\approx 0.1642\approx 16.42\%$
