What issue does notional pooling help to minimize regarding interest payments?

Notional pooling is a treasury management technique that allows companies to manage their cash flows more effectively. It aims to minimize the interest payments related to cash management by offsetting the positive and negative balances of different accounts within a group.

When it comes to minimizing interest payments, the correct focus of notional pooling is on the ability to combine surplus balances from various accounts to offset any overdrafts or negative balances within the group. This helps banks calculate the overall net position and can lead to lower interest costs on overdrafts as the company only pays interest on the net balance rather than on each individual account. By pooling surplus balances, companies can effectively reduce debit interest payments associated with having funds sitting idle in accounts that wouldn't generate interest.

This strategy contrasts with the other options, which address different aspects of cash management and interest payments that are not directly impacted by the principles of notional pooling. For instance, while managing interest rates for foreign currencies and cash-intensive subsidiaries is important, they do not specifically pertain to the netting effect of interest payments that notional pooling seeks to optimize.