Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts

Monday, June 29, 2020

Economics Notes on Money and Banking

By Ajeet Kumar, MA Economics
This is a concise notes on Money and Banking useful for Economics students.

Money: Money is anything that is generally acceptable as a means of payment in the settlement of all transactions, including debt. General acceptability as the common means of payment is the sine qua non. All other attributes of money are derived from this basic attribute (i.e. general acceptability) of money. Money is a social convention.
Barter: Barter refers to the system in which one commodity is exchanged for another.

DIFFICULTIES OF BARTER:
Lack of “Double coincidence of wants”: Double coincidence of wants is necessary in barter exchange, because each party must have what the other party wants and must be willing to trade at terms (e.g. time of exchange, quantity of goods) suitable to both.
Difficulty of sub-division of discrete goods: When the goods involved in exchange are of different values and are discrete goods such as axe and elephant, the goods can not be sub-divided to them of equal worth. Thus, exchange can not be possible without sacrifice of the condition of equivalence in exchange.
Absence of common measure of value: There is no common standard to measure the values of goods in barter. At what rate a commodity should be exchange for another? this problem can not be successfully solved in barter exchange. Barter suffers from the problem of common unit of account.
Difficulty of store of value: The goods of perishable nature can not be stored for long. They will be destroyed after passage of time. For examples: rice, bread, books etc.

FUNCTIONAL DEFINITION OF MONEY: (in couplet form)
Money is a matter of functioning four:
A medium, a measure, a standard, a store.
Medium of exchange: The basic function of money is that it acts as a medium of exchange. The exchange can appear during any kind of economic activities such as consumption or production. When a consumer buys a commodity, he makes payment in form of money to seller (exchange for consumption). Similarly, a producer makes factor payments such as wages and salaries, rent, interest, and profits to the factors of production in form of money (exchange for production). Without money such exchange function will become very difficult. Money facilitates exchange. It speeds the exchange and helps in specialization which in turn increases the productivity. Consumer’s satisfaction is increased many-fold because of money.
Measure of value: Money serves as a common unit of account or measure of value in terms of which the values of goods and services are expressed. Money makes possible meaningful accounting system. Because of this attribute of money, the advancement of society (and of Economics as science) has become possible.
What is meant by price of a commodity? The price of a commodity refers to the value of the unit-commodity. Since the price of a commodity is expressed in terms of money, so money measures the value of a commodity. 
Standard of deferred payments: It is not necessary that the factor payments or payments for commodities will be made at the very moment when the deals take place between two parties. The payments may be deferred. For example, retirement pensions; payment of salaries etc. are given after a stipulated time period. The deferment of payments is possible because of money. But the value of money changes over time so it can not be considered as a very good standard of deferred payments. The value of money is decided by a number of social and psychological factors. The value of money is not an intrinsic phenomenon.
Store of value: Any assets which can continue to hold its value in future can be said to have store value.  There are various kinds of assets like metal, grain, land, etc which can be stored because they have their values in future. But money is the asset which has uniqueness in its store-value in the sense that it alone is perfectly liquid.
NOTE: Significance of money can be explained by help of its functional roles.
Liquidity: Liquidity of an asset refers to the degree of its encashability. Or, Liquidity refers to the characteristic of an asset by virtue of which it can be encashed on demand without loss of its value; more the loss of its value, less its liquidity.
Solvency means the net worth of the debtor. A debtor may have positive solvency without enough liquidity.
Near-money: Assets which are almost, but not quite, money. The near-monies are those assets which can be relatively easily converted into money, if desired, without much loss in their monetary worth (because their monetary values are known). Examples: - bill of exchange, credit cards, time or saving deposits, government bonds, debentures, post office savings, cash values of insurance policies etc. It does not fulfill the primary function of money i.e. medium of exchange but the people who hold such assets may feel wealthier and hence will have a higher propensity to consume.
Intrinsic/metallic value of money: Intrinsic/metallic value of money refers to the value of the matter/metal from which the money is made of.
Extrinsic/Face value of money: Extrinsic/Face value of money refers to the value of the money as denominated on it.
TYPES OF MONEY:
Standard money:  Standard money can be defined as the money which extrinsic value is equal to its intrinsic value and is subject to free coinage. E.g. gold or silver coins. At present, no country has such money.
Token money: Token money is that money which value as money is significantly greater than the market value of the metals from which they are made of. For example, coins.
Bank money: Bank money is cheque. In modern age, bank money has superseded all other forms of money. Unlike money deposited in the current account, money kept in the fixed deposit is not withdrawable by cheque. Hence it is not treated as bank money. Money deposited in the current account is bank money. Also, a part of saving deposits may be treated as bank money because cheque facility is available in case of saving deposits as well. But such facility is limited. Deposits in current accounts are bank money in proper sense.
Paper money: When a printed paper is used as a medium of exchange in economy by public, such paper is termed as paper money. It has helped in economizing the precious metals. Paper money is of two types: Convertible paper money and Inconvertible paper money.
Convertible paper money:  If the issuing authority of paper money promises to convert it into standard money on demand, it is termed as convertible paper money. Representative paper money means convertible paper money.
Inconvertible paper money:  If the issuing authority of paper money does not promise to convert it into standard money on demand, it is termed as inconvertible paper money. It is also known as fiat money (money by order) since it is accepted as money because of the fiat or order of the currency authority.
Fiduciary/credit money: The money which is accepted as money because of the credit/trust of its issuer is called credit money. The examples are coins, paper notes, and demand deposits. The use of fiduciary money is highly economical. It releases precious metal embodied in coins under full-bodied metallic standards for non-monetary uses. But they are also a major source of inflationary trends.
Legal tender money/or, fiat money: Coins and currency notes are fiat money. They serve as money on the fiat/order of the government. They are legal in the sense that they are guaranteed by the government or the law of the land about their acceptability in settlement of payments of all kinds.
The demand deposits are fiduciary money but they can not be accepted in payment of all kinds. So, they are not legal tender. They are fiduciary money proper. A person can legally refuse to accept payment in demand deposits/cheques and insist on payment in cash. This is because there is no guarantee that a cheque will be honored at the issuer’s bank.
attributes of money:
The attributes of money help us in making comparison among these different types of money. Some important attributes or properties of money are as follows:
(1). General acceptability is the most important characteristic of money. Gold and silver are commonly acceptable among different people across time and space. Therefore, they are the best form of money. This is why in the international trade; they occupy important position as money.
(2). Portability is another important attribute of money. Paper money possesses this attribute in best possible manner compared to others.
(3). Durability of money refers to the attribute of money by virtue of which the money exchanged again and again among individuals does not lead to deterioration of its contents. Gold and silver possess such attribute. Paper money does not have this quality.
(4). Homogeneity of money implies the nature of uniformity among different units of money of same denomination with respect to weight, shape, size, etc. By this virtue of money, the different units of money of same denomination can be easily recognized by the people.
(5). Divisibility is the property of the matter from which the money is minted. Because of this attribute, it is possible to divide money into units of different value. Gold is highly divisible but diamond is not. So, gold is a better form of money than diamond.
(6). Cognizability refers to the property of money by which a substance as money is easily recognizable. Gold and silver are such metals that can be easily recognized because of their unique metallic properties.
(7). Stability of value is another property of money. Since money is the measuring rod of value of a commodity, the value of money should be stable.
Deposits: Deposits are the entries in the ledgers of banks to the credits of their holders. We can also say that deposits are the money accepted from public by various monetary agencies to be held under stipulated terms and conditions.
Classification of Deposits: Deposits are analytically classified as demand and term deposits. The savings account deposits include the features of these both kinds of deposits. It is important to estimate the portion of the savings account deposits that are as demand deposits or term deposits.
APPORTIONING OF SAVINGS ACCOUNT DEPOSITS INTO DEMAND AND TIME DEPOSITS:
Earlier the RBI followed the convention that the minimum amount required to keep in the savings account as time liability portion of savings deposits and the amount above this in the account as demand liability portion of savings deposits. This was termed as the portion of savings frequently withdrawable (till 1978).
After 1978, the RBI amended the above rule of apportioning of savings account deposits into demand and time deposits. Under the new rule, the average of the monthly minimum balances in a savings account on which interest is being credited to the shall be treated as a time liability and the excess over the said amount as a demand liability.
The rationale of the amendment does not lead to simplification of the measurement of money supply. In fact, for simplicity, the all deposits in savings account deposits should be treated as demand deposits.
Demand deposits are defined as deposits payable on demand through cheque or otherwise. They serve the medium of exchange function, so they are included as money. Demand deposits are the deposits on which the customer of a bank can draw cheques. This is why they are also termed as chequable deposits.
Cheques:  The cheques are the instruments through which the demand deposits can be transferred from the payer to the payee.
KINDS OF DEPOSITS :( 1) current account deposits, (2) fixed deposits/term deposits (3) savings account deposits.
Current account deposits:
    They are payable on demand.
    No interest is paid on these deposits.
    They can be drawn upon by cheque without any restriction.
    The current account deposits are maintained by business units.
Fixed deposits/term deposits:
    They are not payable on demand.
    They can not be drawn upon by cheque.
    Interest is paid on these deposits.
    The rate of interest on these deposits is fixed by the RBI.
A variety of term deposit is recurring deposit. Compound interest is paid on this deposit. Recurring deposit helps small savers to save on regular basis. Term deposits are characterized by two factors: (1) cheques can not be drawn upon this deposit. (2) The amount deposited in the term deposit can not be legally withdrawn without its date of maturity. In practice, the commercial banks, however, give relaxations to depositors under certain conditions.
Savings account deposits: Savings account deposits blend/combine the features of both- current account deposits and fixed deposits/term deposits. A savings account deposit can not be opened in the name of business units. It is supposed that the holder of savings account deposit will not use its cheque facility for business purposes. Interest is paid on this deposit. The interest is payable on the minimum monthly balance held from the eleventh day of a month till its end.
Post office deposits are of two types: Savings deposits and term/time deposits. The savings deposits in post offices are withdrawable on demand with the help of withdrawal slip but they are not chequable deposits i.e. the deposits in the savings deposits of post offices are not chequable deposits and so they do not directly fulfill the role of medium of exchange.
Narrow definition of money: Narrow definition of money is based on the functional attribute of money as a medium of exchange. By this definition, coins, paper money, and demand deposits or checking-account money are examples of money.
Broader definition of money: Broader definition of money is based on the liquidity approach which in turn is based on the store-value attribute of money. By this definition, following are included as money:
1.    currency
2.    demand deposits of commercial banks
3.    savings deposits of commercial banks
4.    time deposits of commercial banks
5.    post office savings deposits
6.    post office time deposits

The RBI measures of money supply based on broader definition of money was called AMR (Aggregate Monetary Resources).

SOME IMPORTANT POINTS OF INDIAN MONETARY SYSTEM
The Reserve Bank of India has the sole monopoly to issue currency notes in India of all denominations excluding one rupee note and coins. The Government of India issues the one rupee note and all coins of various denominations. The RBI has the sole authority to circulate the coins and currencies of all denominations in India. In 1956, the proportional reserve system (under this system, there is provision to keep a proportional metallic reserve against the note circulation, the remainder of the notes to be covered by trade bills and government securities) was replaced by the fixed minimum reserve system in India. A minimum reserve of foreign securities of worth Rs 400 crores and gold of Rs 115 crores was prescribed. In next year, the foreign securities holding was reduced to Rs 200 crores leaving gold reserve unchanged (Rs 115 crores). This was done because of drastic decrease in foreign reserves.
Supply of money: Supply of money is a stock variable because it is measured at a point of time. The change in money supply is, however, a flow variable because it is measured in a time-interval.
The supply of money refers to the stock of money held by the public. So, the supply of money is just a part of total stock of money in an economy.
‘Public’ mean all economic units such as households, firms, and institutions which demand for money. All non-bank financial institutions, non-departmental public sector enterprises such as Hindustan Steel , Indian Airlines,  local authorities, etc. are included as ‘public’. The producers of money i.e. government and the banking system are excluded from ‘public’. All state governments, central government and the banking institutions are excluded from the ‘public’. Whenever we talk about money supply, we are in fact dealing with the money held by the public. So, net demand deposit of banks is part of M rather than total demand deposits (which includes inter-bank deposits as well).
Summary of Money Supply Concepts of the RBI:-
    M: Narrow measure of money supply (till 1967-68)
    AMR (Aggregate Monetary Resources) i.e. Broader measure of money supply: — (from 1967-68):— M + time deposits of banks held by the public.
Four Measures of Money Supply since April 1977:
    M1:  C + DD + OD; C = Currency, DD= Demand Deposits, OD= Other Deposits of RBI
    M2: M1 + saving deposits with post office savings banks
    M3 (=AMR): M1 + net time deposits of banks.
    M4: M1 + total deposits with the post office savings organizations excluding National Savings Certificates
Net demand deposits of banks are included not their total deposits; total deposits means deposits from public plus inter-bank deposits.
A person diversifies his wealth among different types of real and financial assets considering the internal and external returns from them. In M1 definition money is considered as non-interest bearing means of payment. In this form money has no external or explicit rate of return, but it has implicit returns in form of convenience, security and maneuverability that goes with having immediately available purchasing power.
Portfolio management of an individual is affected by these two types of returns from money apart from the rate of returns from other types of assets.
Demand deposits mean current account deposits plus demand deposit portion of savings deposits, all held by public.
Other deposits of the RBI are its deposits other than those held by the government , banks, and a few others like the IDBI,  the IMF , the World Bank etc. The OD is nearly 1 per cent of total money supply.
The Liquidity Order: M1 <M2 < M3 < M4.
Bank: A bank is a financial institution that accepts chequable deposits of money from the public and uses them for lending. Thus, there are three essential elements required for a financial institution to be a bank:
(1)The deposits must be money; it should not be goods or non-money financial assets.
(2)Deposits must be from the public at large and not merely from the share-holders of bank.
(3)Deposits must be demand deposits i.e. chequable deposits.
Post office savings banks are not banks: Post office savings banks are not banks, by definition. In fact, such term is misnomer. Although post office accepts chequable deposits, it does not lend to others. It lends to the government. Since post office saving banks is run as departmental agencies of union government, they lend money to their owner. Hence, post-office saving banks are not considered as banks.
Depositing and lending are not enough: Non-bank financial institutions e.g. UTI, LIC, IDBI, etc are not banks since they do not provide cheque facilities to their depositors, although they deposit and lend money. Recently, these financial institutions have instituted banks e.g. UTI bank, IDBI bank etc which are in deed banks.
TYPES OF BANKS:
1. Commercial banks: Commercial banks are the banks which finance short- term credits to businessmen and others for trade and commerce.
2. Exchange banks: Exchange banks are the banks which are concerned with financing foreign exchange for international trade.
3. Industrial banks: Industrial banks are the banks which collect money for long term and lend it to industries for long term. Industries require capital for a long period to buy machinery and equipments. E.g. IDBI, IFCI.
4. Agricultural banks: Agricultural banks deal with long term credit to agriculture sector. Land mortgage bank, also called land development bank, provides long term loans. Long term loans are needed by farmers to purchase land and or for permanent improvement of land.
5. Cooperative banks: Cooperative banks provide short term credits to agricultural and industrial sector. Short term loans are taken by farmers to purchase implements, seeds, fertilizers, etc.
6. Saving banks: Saving banks collects/mobiles the small savings of the people. Post office savings bank and savings departments of commercial banks are engaged in mobilizing such savings.
Scheduled Vs Non-Scheduled commercial banks: A scheduled bank is one which is included in the second schedule of the RBI Act, 1934.

Eligibility criteria for a bank to be scheduled one are as follows:
(1) It must have paid-up capital and reserves of an aggregate value not less than five lakhs,
(2) It must be a corporation and not a partnership or a single-owner firm,
(3) It must work following the guide-lines of the RBI and without harming the interest of its customers.
Non-scheduled banks are also subject to the rules and regulations of the RBI but they enjoy certain relaxations. For example, although a non-scheduled bank has to follow the cash reserve ratio requirement of the RBI but it is not necessary that they will keep this ratio of cash with the RBI. They can also approach the RBI in need. But scheduled banks enjoy certain privileges like concessional remittance facilities through the offices of the RBI and its agents which non-scheduled banks do not.

Functions of Commercial Banks: Commercial banks carry out a number of important functions which are as follows:
(1).Depositing and lending: They deposits the surplus of economic units such as households, firms and government through varieties of deposits like current account deposits, savings account deposits, fixed deposits etc. The banks lend these deposits to the businessmen and traders.
(2).Overdraft facility: Commercial banks provide overdraft facilities to the current account holders. An over draft is a system of bank lending by which the borrower is allowed to draw cheques beyond the credit balance in his account , up to an agreed limit, and to pay interest on daily amounts by which his account is overdrawn. Depending on the borrower, a bank may or may not require a collateral security for this facility. [Definition: Overdraft is a short term arrangement between a bank and his customer allowing him to ‘advance’ (i.e. take excess money) up to an agreed limit from his current account than is in it on behalf of the credit of his financial assets.]              
(3).Finance of foreign trade: The commercial banks also finance the foreign trade by accepting the bill of exchange drawn by the customers. For this facility to the customers, they charge some amounts which are termed as discounting of bill.  A bill of exchange is a financial paper drawn to finance foreign trade transactions. The bank discounts its commission on the bill.
(4).Agency functions: The commercial banks act as agents of their customers in collecting and paying cheques, bills, dividends, insurance premium, etc. They also buy and sell securities on behalf of their customers.
(5).Other facilities: The banks provide many other services like locker facility, travelers cheques etc.

Central bank:  Central bank is the apex bank in the banking and monetary institutions of a country and is set up by the government of the country with view to regulate and control the financial activities in the economy usually by the help of regulating and controlling the supply of money. In India, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank.

FUNCTIONS OF A CENTRAL BANK
Issue and circulation of currencies of different denominations: The central bank issues and circulates coins and currency notes in the country. It has monopoly in this regard. In India, all currencies of various denominations are circulated by the RBI.
Banker & advisor of the government:  The treasuries of government are kept with the central bank free of interest. The central bank lends money to central and state governments in case of requirement. Taxes flow to government only in certain parts of year, while funds are needed through out the year. The government borrows temporarily from the central bank in such times. These loans are known as ways and means advances. Apart from these, all other government loans - temporary and permanent- are floated through the central bank. Also, it purchases foreign currencies, remits government funds and manages public debt. It also acts as financial advisor of the government.
Banker’s banker:  All banks in the country are legally bound to obey the rules and regulations of the central bank. The commercial bank is required to keep a certain proportion of their total deposits as reserve to the central bank. This helps the central bank to keep control over the credit creation capacity of the commercial banks.  The commercial banks can keep their spare cash with the central bank which they can withdraw when needed.
Lender of last resort: The commercial banks borrows from each other. Such loans are known as inter-bank loan. In case of emergency, when a bank fails to obtain loan from other banks, it may resort to central bank. The central bank provides loans on the security of approved securities or through rediscounting of bill of exchange. Scheduled banks enjoy the privilege of rediscounting their papers with the RBI as well as securing loans against approved securities when in need. These banks have to keep at least 3% of their total deposit liabilities as reserve with the RBI.
Control of credit: The commercial bank is required to keep a certain proportion of their total deposits as reserve to the central bank. This provision is termed as Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR).  This helps the central bank to keep control over the credit creation capacity of the commercial banks. Apart from the CRR, some other quantitative and selective monetary measures such as Bank rate, Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR), open market operation, margin requirement, moral suasion, direct action etc are used by the RBI to control the volume and direction of credit in the economy.
Maintenance of exchange rate: It is very important that the exchange rate is stable in the economy. The stability of the external value of the home currency is necessary to maintain and promote the foreign trade of country and to encourage the inflow of foreign investments. The central bank fixes the exchange rate in desired manner to achieve these goals.
Custodian of national reserve: The central bank of the country is the custodian of nation’s reserve of gold and foreign currencies.
Collection of data: The central bank of a country collects, compiles and publishes statistical information pertaining to financial institutions and their functions periodically.
Developmental functions: The central bank formulates and implements various kinds of monetary and banking facilities so as to achieve a number of socio-economic objectives such as promotion of exports, reduction of unemployment, rapid growth of GNP, reduction of inflation, etc.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CENTRAL BANK AND COMMERCIAL BANK
The difference between commercial banks and central banks are described below:
(1.Number: There is one and only one central bank in a country while there are large numbers of commercial banks.
(2)Institutor: The central bank is set up by the government of a country while commercial banks are set up by business units.
(3)Profitability: The central bank operates with view to social profitability while commercial banks operate for monetary profits.
(4)Genesis: Commercial bank is comparatively older in its origin than a central bank.
(5)Guide-Lines: The commercial banks have to follow certain guide-lines of the central bank but the reverse is not true. Commercial banks can never order central bank.
(6)Involvement In Monetary Policy: Central bank is directly involved in the monetary policies of the economy but commercial banks are seldom directly involved in such policies.
(7) Custodian: Central bank is the custodian of nation’s gold and foreign exchange reserve.
(8)Dealing: Commercial banks deal with the public i.e. business units and households; but the central bank does not deal with these economic units.
(9)Bulletins: The central bank of a country collects, compiles and publishes statistical information of the country pertaining to financial institutions and their functions periodically but commercial banks does not publish any such financial data excluding their balance sheets and profit-and-loss accounts.
(10)Uni-directional loans: Central bank may lend money to commercial banks but not vice versa.
Difference between Cash Credit and Overdraft Credit:
In case of cash credit, real assets such as inventories of raw materials, goods in process or finished goods, and receivables are the forms of security. In case of overdraft credit, financial assets such as shares, debentures, LIC policies or fixed deposits are considered as forms of security. Cash credit is comparatively for longer period than overdraft credit.

Pros & cons of cash credit system
From the borrower’s point of view:
The borrower can withdraw cash any number of times within the agreed limit and subject to withdrawing rights. He can also repay any number of times in to the account. So the borrower has huge flexibility.
Interest is payable only on the net amount of credit actually utilized and not on the limit granted.
Securities furnished by the borrower are flexible and changeable.
From the lender’s i.e. bank’s and economy’s point of view:
ü  Banks have no control over actual level of cash credit; only over the credit limit.
ü  Cash management is headache of the banks; borrowers put their cash surplus to save interest.
ü  Banks provide a large credit limit for they know by experience that borrowers use only a part of the credit limit. But during sudden spurts borrowers withdraw a large sum making banks to scurry for funds in the money market.
ü  It militates against the RBI restrictive credit policies.
ü  There is no effective control over the end-use of credit.
ü  Borrower can swindle (cheat) a bank as no bank can devise a fully fool-proof system of credit evaluation.
ü  It favors big and established borrowers to the disadvantage of small and new borrowers.
ü  It leaves enough room for multiple-finance. The borrowers can borrow from several banks at the same time. Consortium banking can reduce such abuses.
Short term credit is usually of less than one year; but it may be of more than that period. Medium term credit is of less than ten years. Long term credits are for more than ten years.
Commercial bills are used by firms engaged in business. Generally, they are of three-month maturity. They are lie post-dated cheques drawn by the sellers of goods on the buyers of the goods for the value received.
Treasury bills are short term 91 days bills which are the liabilities of the government of India. They are raised by the government to meet its temporary needs for funds; in practice, they have become a permanent source of funds. Every year the RBI converts a part of Treasury bill into long term bonds.
Ad hoc treasury bills are not sold to the general public or banks and are not marketable. Their holders, when in need can sell them back to the RBI.
Ordinary or regular treasury bills are sold to the general public or banks. They are freely marketable and their buyers are almost entirely commercial banks. All treasury bills are sold by the RBI. The interest on the treasury bills are very low which has kept the public debt to be very low but at the same time it has caused the treasury bill market to be undeveloped.
Money market deals with short term credits. Money market is of two types: 1. national money market and 2. Short-term credit market Short term credit market may be organized or unorganized. The examples of organized short term credit market are: - call money market, bill market, (Treasury bill and commercial bill), bank loan market etc. The RBI and various commercial and cooperative banks participate in this market.
Capital market deals with long term securities. Stock market is a component of capital market. The stock market deals with open market securities while capital market deals with negotiated loans as well. Industrialists bring ‘securities’ in the stock market to acquire capital. Industrialists also take long term loans from banks (i.e. negotiated loans); such activity is part of capital market.
Open market securities are securities or market papers which are bought and sold openly in the market like marketable goods and services.
Negotiable loans: The negotiable loans are negotiated directly or through a broker between the brokers and lender. They appear only in the account books of the lenders and borrowers s’ promissory notes which are not salable in the market.
Financial reserve banking: Banks do not keep all the liquid assets against the deposit liabilities but only a fraction of them. Such process helps the bank to expand their credit facilities. Banks expand credit on the basis of their excess reserves. 
Primary or Direct securities are bill, bond, equity, etc. Primary securities are purchased by surplus sector to direct finance the deficit spenders.  Secondary or indirect securities are raised by financial institutions. Their examples are Reserve Bank currency, bank deposits, LIC policies, UTI units, IDBI bonds etc.
Credit is finance made available by one party to another; the former party is called lender and the later one is called debtor. Credit is the claim made by the lending party to borrowing party. In narrow sense, credit is ‘debt finance’. Financial system is concerned with cash and credit transactions. Payment system is concerned with only cash transactions.
Primary securities are those which are purchased by the surplus real sector units to direct finance the deficit spenders (i.e. ultimate borrowers). There is no role of financial intermediaries in direct finance. Examples are bill, bond, equity etc.
Secondary securities are raised by various financial intermediaries. Examples are bank deposits, LIC policies, RBI currency notes, UTI units, IDBI bonds etc.
Financial intermediaries are intermediaries or mediators between ultimate lenders and ultimate borrowers. The chief function of FIs is to collect surplus of different economic units and lend them to deficit spenders.  Thus financial intermediaries help in indirect finance. They purchase and sell secondary securities.
Financial intermediation: The process of transfer of fund from the ultimate lenders to the ultimate borrowers is called financial intermediation.

Why do surplus economic units prefer to lend FIs rather than lend directly to deficit spenders?
1.      Low risk,
2.      Greater liquidity,
3.      Convenience,
4.      Other services.
Reserves: Reserves mean the liquid assets – the currency in banks’ vaults and their deposits with the central bank – against their deposit liabilities.
Legal reserves: Legal reserves are the liquid assets that a bank may lawfully use as reserves against its deposit liabilities.
Required reserves denote the minimum legal reserves that a bank is required by law to keep behind its deposit liabilities.
Excess reserves: Excess reserves denote excess of legal reserves over the required reserves. A bank is in equilibrium or ‘fully used up’ when it has no ‘unused lending power’.
Reserve ratio denotes the ratio of reserve to total liability.
Cash reserve ratio (CRR) is the ratio of cash to deposit liability.
Liquidity ratio is ratio of liquid assets to total deposit liability.
Bank’s portfolio: Income earning assets of a bank plus its cash constitute the bank’s portfolio. 

Economics Notes on National Income


By Ajeet Kumar, MA Economics

This is a concise notes on national income  useful for Economics students. It provides the basis to solve the problems of national income accounting.

National income refers to the money value of all final goods and services produced by the normal residents of a country while working within or outside the domestic territory of a country in an accounting year. It includes net factor income from abroad.

The above definition is based on product method. In this method, the money value of goods and services are calculated by multiplying their quantities with their respective prices. In short, Y=PG+PS where G and S stand for amount of goods and services respectively and P being their prices.

Factor income:  Factor income refers to the income earned by different factors of production as reward for their contribution in production. It is an earning concept (exchange/give-and-get concept).

Transfer income: It refers to income received without doing any economic activity.

Transfer payment: Transfer payment refers to the payment which is made to some one without ones contribution in economic activity. One party’s income is another’s expenditure.

Inputs: Inputs are the resources which are used in production process.

Primary inputs: Primary inputs are those inputs which renders services in the production activities without being merged into the output. They are also known as factors of production. Factors of production are land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship. In income method, the rewards of these factors of production i.e. rent, wage, interest, and profit are added together to estimate national income.

Secondary inputs: Secondary inputs are those inputs which are used in the production process and they are transformed into output as its parts. Examples are: seeds, fertilizers, insecticides, water, etc.

Primary factors of production: Land and labor are known as Primary factors of production.

Secondary factors of production: Capital and entrepreneurship are known as secondary factors of production since they are derived from primary factors of production in a sense. Karl Marx said: - capital is congealed labor and entrepreneur is a variety of labor.

Income method: In income method, the national income is defined as the sum total of factor incomes accruing to the normal residents of a country for their productive services rendered during an accounting year. In other words, the sum total of income generated from work and property of the normal residents in an accounting year refers to the national income. Wages and profits arise out of work and rent and interest from property. Income method is also known as Factor Payment Method or Distributed Share Method.

Analytical sectors of an economy: (1) Household sector, (2) Firm sector, (3) Government sector, and (4) External sector/The rest-of-world sector.

Household sector: Household sector provides the factor services like land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship to the producing sector. The household sector is the consuming sector in an economy.

Firm sector: Firm sector receives the factor services like land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship from the Household sector.  Firm sector is the producing sector in an economy.

Government sector: Government sector is the producing and consuming sector in an economy.

Real flow: Real flow refers to the flow of goods and services from the firm sector to household sector and flow of factor services from household sector to firm sector.

Money flow: Money flow refers to the flow of factor payment from firm sector to household sector and flow of expenditure on goods and services from household sector to firm sector.

Circular flow of income refers to the real flow and money flow in an economy that take place in circular fashion.

Three phases of Circular flow of income: (1) Production phase, (2) Distribution phase, (3) Disposition phase. Production generates income, income leads to expenditure and expenditure, in turn, leads to further production. Here, expenditure is about final one. Final expenditure is on consumption and investment.

Value added: Value added refers to the difference between total value of output and the value of inputs used to produce it. Value added= value of output – value of intermediate consumption.

Injection: Injection refers to the addition of income in the economy (or circular flow of income). For examples: investment, exports, subsidies etc. Injection leads to rise in the level of national income.

Leakage: Leakage refers to the decrease of income in the economy (or circular flow of income). For examples: savings, imports, taxes, etc. Leakage leads to fall in the level of national income.

Closed economy: An economy which is isolated from the rest of world in economic affairs is called closed economy. Such economy does hardly exist in real world. This situation is also known as autarky.

Open economy: An economy which deals with the rest of world in economic affairs is called open economy. In simple words, exports and imports are the economic activity that makes an economy open.

Final goods: Final goods are the goods which are neither for resale nor for further processing in the production process. They are used by the consumers for consumption and by producers for investment. They are finished goods.

Intermediate goods are those goods and services which are used by the producers to produce other (final) goods and services. They are excluded form national income because their value is already included in value of final products. In other words, in order to avoid problem of double counting, the values of intermediate products are excluded from national income.

Final goods Vs. Intermediate goods: Sugarcane is used in the production of sugar. So sugarcane can be treated as Intermediate good but there is no hard-and-fast rule to decide a given good as intermediate or final. In the above example, if the sugarcane is used by a household instead of a sugar mill the sugarcane will be treated as final good. Thus, water tight compartmentalization of goods as intermediate or final is wrong. In some cases, however, we can clearly decide whether a given good is intermediate one or final. For example, the spare parts of motorcycles or cars are intermediate goods. Intermediate goods are those goods which are used up in the production process.

Flow variable: A flow variable is one which is measured over a period of time. National income is a flow concept because it is measured over a period of time, usually one year.

Examples of flow variables: income, savings, depreciation, imports, exports, interest, profit, rent, wages, salaries, change in stocks, lending, borrowings, demand for goods and services, supply of goods and services, etc.

Stock variable: A stock variable is one which is measured at a point of time.

Examples of stock variables: money supply, wealth, inventories, opening stock, closing stock, population etc.
Self services: Domestic (self) services like cooking of food and washing of clothes by the housewife, shaving by someone oneself, etc. are not included in national income. Interestingly for this reason, the British economist A.C. Pigou once said - when a person marries his maid then he reduces the national income because after marriage her services are not recognized as economic activities. Such services are not included because, firstly, they are not rendered for market and secondly, their valuation is difficult.

Second-hand goods: The sales and purchases of second hand goods are excluded from national income because they are not newly produced goods in the current accounting year. However, the commission or brokerage earned by the broker on such transactions is added since they are the current flow of service in the economy.

Bonds: The Sales and purchases of financial assets like bonds, shares etc , both old and new, are excluded form national income since their transitions do not directly involve current production.

Illegal is forbidden: The income earned from illegal activities (e.g. black marketing, smuggling) is excluded from national income because such activities are not recognized by the law of country (although they are theoretically economic activities, by definition). Conventionally, illegal activities are not considered as economic activities.

Windfall gains: Windfall gains do not result from economic activities. Since they are not reward for any productive activity, so they are excluded from national income Example of windfall gain is income from lottery. Since such income is merely transfer of money from one party to another and it does not lead to production, so windfall gain is excluded from national income. Windfall gains do not lead to rise or fall in national income.

Transfer income: Transfer income or payments such as old age pensions, unemployment allowances, scholarship to students, relief to the victims of accidents, flood, or earthquakes etc. are not included in national income because these payments are not reward for any productive activity. It is, therefore, a receipt concept. Transfer payments are also called unilateral payments (uni=one, lateral=side).

Domestic territory: Domestic territory (also called economic territory) is more than the political frontier/boundary of a country. It includes the following apart from the political boundary:
(1) territorial waters, (2) ships and vessels owned and operated by the residents between two or more countries, (3) the country’s companies engaged in extraction in foreign countries where she has exclusive rights of operation, (4) fishing vessels, oil and natural gas rigs and floating platforms operated by the normal residents of the country in the international waters (5) embassies, consulates and military establishments of the country located rest of the world.
Caution: The international organizations like WHO, IMF, UNICEF, etc. which branches are located in the political boundary of the country are excluded from domestic territory.

Normal Resident: A normal resident is defined as a person (or institution) who ordinarily resides (usually for more than one year) in a country and whose centre of economic interest lies in that country. The concept of normal resident is different from that of a citizen. The citizen of a country derives all the political rights and other privileges given in the constitution of the country.

Examples of Normal Resident : (1) an American engineer living in India for more than one year is a normal resident of India but an American student living in India for more than one year is not a normal resident of India, (2) the international bodies like WHO, UNICEF, etc. are not normal residents, (3) local people working in the foreign embassies located in the country are the normal residents of the country but the foreign embassies in themselves are not part of the domestic territory of the country.

National income at current price:  National income calculated at the prevailing prices of the goods and services is called national income at current prices. It does not reflect the true economic growth or performance of an economy. To overcome from this problem, the national income is calculated at the prices of goods and services of the base year. The national income at current prices can increase without rise of the flow of goods and services in the economy, if the prices of the goods and services increase. It is affected either by change in the quantities of goods and services or their prices.

National income at constant prices (also called real national income) refers to the money value of all goods and services measured at base year prices produced by the normal residents of a country during an accounting year. The real national income can increase only when the flow of goods and services rise in the economy. Thus, it is affected only by change in the quantities of goods and services.

Base year:  The base year is the year which is characterized by economic stability and absence of great shock of business cycle, war, political stability etc.The base year is chosen to measure and compare various statistical indices such as consumer price index, wholesale price index, etc.

National income at current prices
National income at constant prices
1. National income calculated at the prevailing prices of the goods and services is called national income at current price.
1. National income at constant prices refers to the money value of all goods and services measured at base year prices produced by the normal residents of a country during an accounting year.
2. The national income at current price can increase without rise of the flow of goods and services in the economy, if the prices of the goods and services increase.
2. The real national income can increase only when the flow of goods and services rise in the economy.
3. It is affected either by change in the quantities of goods and services or their prices.

3. It is affected only by change in the quantities of goods and services.

4. It does not reflect the economic growth or performance of an economy.
4. It reflects the economic growth or performance of an economy.
5. They are not comparable over different periods.
5.They are comparable over different periods

Remember:

Net indirect taxes mean indirect taxes minus subsidies. i.e. NITs = IT – S.
Gross – Net = Depreciation.
MP = FC + NITs where MP = market price, FC = factor cost, NIT = net indirect taxes
National = Domestic + NFIA.
Value of output = value added + intermediate consumption.
Real GNP/nominal GNP = base year price index/current year price index

The term ‘gross’ includes the depreciation cost; depreciation is also called consumption of fixed capital.
The imputed value of some goods for example, rent of self occupied houses, production for self consumption are included in national income.
Capital gains, transfer income, and income from illegal activities etc are not included in national income.
Employer’s contributions to social security schemes such as PF (Provident Fund), LIC (Life Insurance Corporation), casualty insurance etc are included in compensation of employees.
Undistributed profit is also known as savings of private corporate sector.
Profit tax is also known as corporate or corporation tax.
Conventionally, NFIA is allocated to private sector and not to public sector because the major contribution in NFIA is made by the private sector rather than by the government sector.
National income means NNP at FC and Domestic income means NDP at FC.

Dividend is that part of the firm’s profit which is distributed among the share holders of the firm. A part of total profit is received by the government as profit tax and the remaining is used by the firm to develop the business.

Depreciation: Depreciation is normal wear and tear of fixed assets and their expected /anticipated/foreseen obsolescence. The depreciation causes fall in the value of assets. (Alas! every thing depreciates)

Capital loss: capital loss refers to the loss of value of assets due to some unforeseen factors/natural calamities like war, flood, theft, fire, etc. it is not included in national income. For example, destruction of some building and machinery during earthquake is assumed to not affect the national income (directly). (We cannot control every thing)

Gross Domestic Product(GDP)
Gross National Product(GNP)
1. It refers to the money value of all final goods and services produced within the domestic territory of a country.
1. It refers to the money value of all final goods and services produced by the normal residents of a country.
2. It is a territorial concept. It focuses on the domestic territory of the economy.
2. It is a national concept. It focuses on the normal residents of the economy.
3. GDP= PG +PS
3. GNP= GDP + NFIA
4. GDP is more than GNP if NFIA is negative.
4. GNP is more than GDP if NFIA is positive.

Net Domestic Product (NDP) can be defined as the net value of final goods and services produced by its residents and non-residents within the domestic territory of a country in a year.

Net Domestic Product(NDP)
Net National Product(NNP)
1. It refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within the domestic territory of a country in a year.
1. It refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced by the normal residents of a country in a year.
2. It is a territorial concept. It focuses on the domestic territory of the economy.
2. It is a national concept. It focuses on the normal residents of the economy.
3. NDP= GDP – Depreciation.
3. NNP= GNP – Depreciation.
Or, NDP= NNP -  NFIA
Or, NNP= NDP + NFIA

Compensation of employees includes 1) wages and salaries 2) employer’s contribution to social security schemes and 3) retirement pension or private pension.
Wages and salaries include dearness allowances, sick leave allowance, leave travel concessions etc.However, reimbursement of business expenses incurred by the employees on behalf of their employers are excluded from it. Such expenses, in fact, form part of intermediate consumption of the business enterprises. Wages is all about payment for physical work and salary for white collar job (mental work). 

Compensation in kind: Value of interest foregone on loans to employees is treated as compensation in kind. Free housing, free medical facilities to the family members of the employee, free uniforms, free rent accommodation to employee, free education to the children of the employees, conveyance facilities, free ration to defence personnel etc are examples of compensation in kind.

Note: Employees’ contribution to social security schemes is not included in the national income since it is already included in wages and salaries. Also, compensation to injured worker, and travel allowance pertain to business promotion are not included

Pension: its type- Retirement pension also called private pension is included since it is a sort of deferred wage payment. Old age pension, however, is excluded since it is a transfer payment.

Operating surplus is defined as the excess of value added by the enterprises over and above the sum of domestic compensation of employees, net indirect taxes, and consumption of fixed capital. Operating surplus is the sum total of the income from property and (income from) entrepreneurship.

Income from property includes 1) Rent 2) Interest 3) Royalty.
The imputed rent is included in case of owner occupied houses.

Which kind of interest is included? The interest payments made on the loans raised for productive purposes are included in national income but the loans raised by the government for consumption such as flood control, welfare work etc  are excluded from national income. (Ask yourself: is the loan raised productive?)

Interest on national debt is excluded from the national income on this ground/assumption that the borrowing is used for the sake of welfare work rather than for production.

Royalty:  Royalty is the payment made for the use of natural resources (e.g. rights of mining) and for granting the rights of using patents, copyrights and trademarks etc. royalty is the price paid for the use of mineral deposits, patents, copyrights, and trademarks etc.

Income from entrepreneurship is known as profit. A part of the profit is distributed among the share holders and out of the rest a part is kept as undistributed profit and other is given to the government as corporation taxes. Corporation tax is the tax imposed by the government on the profit of the company.
Mixed income of self employed includes wage income as well as non-wage income such as rent, interest, profit. The self employed may be persons such as farmers, small businessmen, doctors, lawyers etc. In developed countries the mixed income of self employed is not shown separately. But in India, CSO (Central Statistical Organization) mentions it as a separate component of domestic factor income.

Factor income from abroad: It refers to the income received to the normal residents of a country from the rest of world in form of wages and salaries, rent, interest, and profit. The wages and salaries arise when the normal residents of the country are temporarily out of the country to earn. For example, a worker employed in a company abroad (say, Iraq) for less than a year sends money to his family. This money income will be treated as factor income from abroad. But if his stay is for more than a year then the person will be treated as a normal resident of Iraq and hence his income will be excluded from the national income of India. His income will be included in the national income of Iraq. Similarly, salary received by an Indian employee in a foreign embassy located in India is included in national income of India.

Factor income paid abroad: It refers to the income paid to the non- normal residents of the rest of world in form of wages and salaries, rent, interest, and profit. The wages and salaries are paid to the non-normal residents when they are temporarily in the country to earn. For example, consultancy fee paid to a foreign expert. It leads to decrease in national income.

Net Factor income from abroad (NFIA): It is the difference between factor incomes from abroad and factor income paid abroad. The NFIA is classified as (1) Net Compensation of employees (2) Net Income from Property and Entrepreneurship and (3) Net Retained Earnings of Resident Companies Abroad.

NDPatFC: NDPatFC is the sum of (1) Income from net domestic product accruing to private sector and (2) Income from net domestic product accruing to public sector. Note that the domestic income is all about the factor income generated in the domestic territory of a country.

Income from net domestic product accruing to private sector is that part of NDPatFC generated in form of compensation of employees, operating surplus and mixed income which is accrued to the private sector. In other words, by excluding the Income from net domestic product accruing to public sector from the NDPatFC, we get Income from net domestic product accruing to private sector. (Note: it is factor income.)

Income from net domestic product accruing to public sector is also called surplus of public sector. This is the sum of (1) income from property and entrepreneurship to government administrative department and (2) savings of non-departmental government enterprises. (Note: it is factor income.)

Private income is the total income as factor income and current transfers accruing to the private sector from the government and the rest of the world.

Private income has the following components:
(1)    Income from net domestic product accruing to private sector,
(2)    Net Factor income from abroad (NFIA),
(3)    Current transfers: (a) current transfer from the government in form of gifts, donations and subsidies. (b) Net current transfers from the rest of the world .The net current transfers from the rest of the world is the difference between current transfers received from other countries and the current transfers paid to other countries.

Current transfers are the payments which are made from the current income of the payer and added to the current income of the recipient for consumption expenditure. Current transfer may be voluntary or forced. 

Voluntary transfer payments: The examples of voluntary current transfers are gifts, donations, scholarship etc.

Forced or compulsory current transfer payments: Forced or compulsory current transfer may be in form of income tax, wealth tax, excise duty, sales tax etc.
 Private income = Income from net domestic product accruing to private sector + current transfer from the government + Net current transfers from the rest of the world + Interest on national debt +NFIA
Alternative Formula:
Private income = NDPatFC - Income from net domestic product accruing to public sector
+ Current transfer from the government + Net current transfers from the rest of the world + Interest on national debt +NFIA.

National income
Private income
1. National income includes only factor payments.
1. Private income includes factor income as well as transfer income.
2. It refers to factor income received to all sectors of the economy.
2. It refers to all types of income received by households and private enterprises.
3. It is the income of normal residents of the country.
3. It refers to the income only of private sector.
4. Interest on national debt is not included in it.
4. Interest on national debt is included in it.

Personal income: Personal income is the sum total of the incomes received by the households of an economy. It includes factor income as well as transfer income of the households. Since private sector includes households and private enterprises, so by deducting corporation taxes, undistributed profit, and net retained earnings of the foreign companies from private income, we get personal income.
Personal income = Private income - corporation taxes - , undistributed profits - net retained earnings of the foreign companies.

Alternative Formula:
Personal income = National income - Income from domestic product accruing to public sector - corporation taxes - undistributed profits - net retained earnings of the foreign companies + transfer income. (Note: Retained earnings of the foreign companies are excluded since they are already included in NFIA.).

Income from domestic product accruing to private sector
Private income
1. It includes only factor income.
1. It includes factor income as well as transfer income.
2. It is a domestic concept. So NFIA is not included in it.
2. It is a national concept. So NFIA is included in it.
3. Interest on national debt is not included in it.
3. Interest on national debt is included in it.
Private income
Personal income
1.It is a broader concept
1. It is a narrower concept.
2. It includes total income of household and firm sectors.
2. It includes total income of only household sector.
3.It includes corporation taxes, undistributed profit etc.
3. It does not include them.

National income
Personal income
1. It is an earning concept.
1. It is a receipt concept.
2. It also includes earning of public sector.
2. It excludes earning of public sector.
3. Interest on national debt is excluded.
3. Interest on national debt is included in it.
4.It includes corporation taxes, undistributed profit etc.
4.It does not include corporation taxes, undistributed profit etc.

Personal disposable income is that part of personal income which is either spent on consumption or saved by the households. It is the income which is available to the households to dispose. In other words, it is the income retained by the households after deducting direct taxes and miscellaneous receipts of the government from the personal income.

National disposable income is the income available to a country to dispose. It is the national income at market price including net current transfers from the rest of the world. Therefore, NDI = NNPatMP + Net current transfers from the rest of the world. The National disposable income can be more or less than national income because it includes the net current transfers from the rest of the world.

Personal disposable income
National disposable income
1. It is the income at the disposal of households to spend or save.
1. It is the income at the disposal of nation to spend or save.
2. It excludes indirect taxes.
2. It includes indirect taxes.
3. PDI = NNPatFC - Income from domestic product accruing to public sector + all current transfers.
3. NDI = NNPatFC + Net indirect taxes + Net current transfers from the rest of the world.

Gross National disposable income = Net National disposable income + depreciation.

Measurement of national income is possible in three different ways: (1) Product method (2) Income method and (3) Expenditure method.

Product method is also called net output method or industry of origin method or value added method. The calculation of national income by final output method gives rise to problem of double counting. Because of this problem, there is overestimation of the national income.
The counting of the value of commodity more than one in the process of measurement of national income is termed as problem of double counting.
The problem of double counting arises because of problem in establishing a commodity as final good. Each producer considers his product as final one.

Expenditure method is also known as income disposal method (sometimes also called consumption and investment method). In this method, the final expenditures on various items in a year   by all sectors of the economy are aggregated.

Categorization of final expenditure: The final expenditures are usually categorized into following components:
(1)    private final consumption expenditure,
(2)    government final consumption expenditure,
(3)    gross fixed capital formation,
(4)    change in stocks/inventories,
(5)    net acquisition of valuables,
(6)    Net exports.

Capital: Man-made means of further production is called capital. The stock of capital in an economy changes over time.

Capital formation: The net addition of capital sock in an economy is called capital formation. Capital formation is also known as investment.

Gross Domestic Capital Formation (GDCF) is the sum of following components:
(1)    Gross Domestic Fixed Capital Formation (GDFCF),
(2)    change in stocks/inventories,
(3)    net acquisition of valuables

Change in stocks refers to closing stock minus opening stock

Private final consumption expenditure includes the following:
(1) Purchases of currently produced goods and services in the domestic market by resident households are included but the expenses by foreigners/nonresidents are excluded.
(2) Imputed rent of owner-occupied houses is included.
(3) Purchases of houses are treated as investment, not as consumption.etc.
Unsold stock left with the firms is treated as purchased by them. This is why change in stock is treated as final investment expenditure.

Investment expenditure: The expenditure on construction of residential building, business fixed investment, public investment, and inventory investment in an economy.
 Public investment: Construction of roads, canals, schools, hospitals, etc. are examples of public investment.
Business fixed investment: The amount of money spent on newly produced capital goods by business units refers to business fixed investment.

Inventory investment refers to the currently produced goods which are not included in the current sale of final output.

Net export is considered as a part of domestic product. It is also called net foreign investment because positive net export leads to rise in productivity of the economy. If the net import is x then net export is (-) x. GDP = C + I + G + X – M.
Expenditure on second hand goods, intermediate goods, transfer payments, shares and bonds are excluded.

The choice of method of estimating national income is determined by a number of factors such as structure of economy, availability of data, kind of human activity etc. In traditional/undeveloped economy income method is not useful because the data regarding the income of various sectors such as agriculture sector, service sector are not available. Also these sectors play crucial role/ contribution in generation of national income. So, reliance on income method in these countries will underestimate the national income.







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