Prices and markets. Types of market, страница 43

3.5.4 Другие услуги банка

Банк будет поставлять помощь и совет с инвестициями денег (например, покупка правительственных ценных бумаг и акций компании). Они будут также действовать как исполнители завещаний (то есть они выполнят избавление от денег и собственности, оставленной умершим лицом). Через их филиалы банки также предлагают страховые услуги и управляют паевыми трестами.

Ответьте на эти вопросы, основанные на тексте выше:

5.  Какие услуги банк оказывают?

6.  Какие виды ссуд банки делают?

7.  Какова функция рынков за деньги?

8.  Каков вексель?

3.6 Markets for money

Just as there are markets for such things as wheat, copper, cars and cameras, so there are markets for money. Like these other commodities, money has a price. Borrowers are prepared to pay a price for the use of other people’s money; this price is known as the rate of interest.

The aim of banks and other financial institutions which operate in the money markets is to make sure that money does not lie idle. They are able to earn profits by putting money to work.

The difference between ‘the two rates of interest is the source of the financial institutions’ profits. (Note that these rates will depends on any changes in the supply of and demand for loans.)

3.6.1 Savers and borrowers

Banks and other financial institutions such as building societies, insurance companies and pensions funds collect savings from households and firms. These savings are lent to borrowers.

Households borrow in order to purchase houses, cars, furniture and so on. Firms borrow to buy machinery, transport equipment, materials and so on. The government and local authorities borrow when their expenditures are greater than their incomes from taxes and local rates.

Banks and other financial institutions are able to attract saving because they offer savers a variety of services, such as

-  security: the savers feel that their money is ‘safe’,

-  the opportunity to earn an income in the form of interest,

-  facilities for withdrawing cash when it is needed, and

-  the convenience of many local branches.

Banks are able to earn profits because they charge a higher rate of interest to borrowers than the rate they pay to depositors.

There are two main types of markets which bright borrowers and savers together: the money market, which tends to specialize in short-term loans and is explain below, and the capital market, which provides long-term loans and is explained in Chapter 15.

3.6.2 The London money market

This is the market for loans whose periods range from a few hours to several month. A variety of banks trade in the London money market, including the Bank of England, the discount houses, the merchant banks, the commercial banks and branches of foreign banks. These different types of bank are described in Section 14.7.

It is important to have some understanding of how money is transferred from lenders to borrowers in this market. What happens is that the lenders buy the IOUs or ‘promises to pay’ of the borrowers. These IOUs are described as securities or bills. Several types of securities are traded in the money market; two of them are described below.

3.6.3 A bill of exchange

This is an important document which enables traders in both home and overseas markets to obtain credit, that is, to borrow money.

For example, suppose Firm A wishes to purchase goods to the value of
100 000 $ from Firm B but does not wish to pay for them immediately; it wants three months’ credit. Firm B, on the other hand, does not want to wait three month for its money. A bill of exchange can help overcome this problem.

Firm B will draw up a bill of exchange which sets out the value of the goods and carries a promise of payment for them in three months’ time. In then sends this bill to Firm A (the buyer) which writes the word ‘accepted’ on the face of the bill, signs it and sends it back to Firm B. In the bill of exchange shown in Figure 14.7, ICI has accepted a bill for 100 000 $ which was sent to it by the British Gas Corporation.