CREDIT CREATION
The creation of credit is one of the important functions of commercial banks. In the
ordinary course of business banks accept deposits from the public and lend money to
its customers. When a bank advances a loan it does not pay the amount in cash. But it
opens an account in the name of the customer and allows him to withdraw the required
amount by cheque. In this way a bank creates credit or deposit which are regarded as
money which can be used for the purchase of goods and services and also for the
payment of debt just like currency notes.
Bank deposits arise in two ways:
1. Primary deposits: When a person deposits money with the bank, it is credited in his
account. It is a debt of the bank and it has an obligation to repay whenever
demanded. The customer is free to withdraw the amount whenever he needs it. This
type of deposit is known as primary deposit. The initiative for creating such deposits
is taken by the public. Primary deposits bring cash to the banking system.
2. Derivative deposits: Using the cash received from the depositors, the banks grant
advances to businessmen or buys assets such as bills, bonds etc., from the market.
Whenever a bank grants a loan or buys an asset it does not usually pay cash for it.
Instead of paying the cash the banker actually places the amount of loan in the
account of the borrower. Thus the borrower acquires a claim against a bank just as
he has deposited a sum of money. These deposits are derived from the primary
deposit and hence they are known as derivative deposits.
If the banker has more primary deposits, he can lend more and create more deposits.
The initiative for creating the derivative deposits comes from the banking system.
There are two views as to the ability of banks to create credit. According to Withers,
banks can create credit by opening a deposit every time they advance a loan. This is
because every time a loan is sanctioned payment is made through cheques by the
customers. All such payments are adjusted through clearing. So long as the loan is due,
deposit of that amount remains outstanding in the books of the bank. Thus, every loan
creates a deposit.
Edwin Cannan, Waiter and Leaf do not agree with the view. They say that banks cannot
create money out of thin air. They can lend only what they have in cash. So they cannot
and do not create money. The above view is based on the argument relating to a single
bank. So it cannot be considered correct. Prof. Samuelson says that "'The banking
system as a whole can do what each small bank cannot do; it can expand its loans and
investments many times the reserves of cash created for it, even though each small
bank is lending out only a fraction of its deposits."
By experience banks know that all depositors do not withdraw their money
simultaneously. Some withdraw while some others deposit on the same day. So by
keeping a small cash reserve for day-to-day transactions the bank is able to grant loans
on the basis of excess reserves. The amount lent may come back again to the same
bank or some other bank as deposit. The banks whose deposits have increased will
lend. This process will continue till the total deposits have increased by a number of
times the original deposit of cash.
Multiple Creation of Credit
The banks have varied methods to create credit.
Loans and Advances: Banks provide credit facilities to businessmen by way of loans
and advances, overdraft and cash credit. When a loan is granted or overdraft is
sanctioned, the amount of loan or overdraft is entered in the account of the customer
and he is allowed to draw cheques upto the amount agreed upon. Thus the bank
creates a deposit in the name of the borrower. Banks can create more credit by making
more loans and advances.
Money at Call and Short Notice: Money at call and short notice is given to speculators
and stock brokers for extremely short period ranging from 24 hours to 2 or 3 days. The
bank credits the accounts of the stock brokers or speculators when such facilities are
granted and allows them to draw the amount. They, in turn, issue cheques to their
clients in settlement of their accounts. The persons who receive the cheque may
deposit the same into their accounts. In this way, the money at call and short notice
granted ultimately results in creation of deposits.
Discounting of Bills: When a bank discounts a bill of exchange of a customer for a
short period of 90 days or less, the amount of the bill is credited in the account of the
customer who withdraws it through cheque or, it pays the sum through a cheque on
itself. In both cases, the bank creates a deposit equal to the amount of the bill of
exchange.
Investments: A commercial bank also creates a deposit by making investment in
securities like government bonds, shares and debentures etc., which have longer life.
The bank pays for the bond through a cheque on itself to the central bank. If it buys
bonds or debentures from stock exchange, it credits the amount in the account of the
seller. In any case a deposit is created either in this bank or in some other bank.
From the foregoing illustration it is clear that bank is dealing mainly in credit. Credit
means a promise of future payment in lieu of present payment. Bank deposits are such
promises on the part of banks to pay cheques drawn by depositors and as such they
serve as money. In other words, banks acquire assets which may be in the nature of
securities, bonds, bills, buildings etc., and create deposits. Such created money adds to
the total money supply in a country. Thus banks have limitless powers to create credit.
Sayers has aptly said that "banks are not merely purveyors of money but also in an
Important sense, manufacturers of money."
Technique of Credit Creation
The following illustration explains the mechanism of credit creation.
Let us assume that there exists four banks in a locality and each is required by law to
keep 20% reserve against the deposit liabilities.
On a day the Balance Sheet of State Bank of India appears as follows:
STATE BANK OF INDIA
Balance Sheet
Liabilities Assets
Deposits 5,000 Cash 5,000
5,000 5,000
Next day one Mr. Y deposits Rs. 5000 with the bank. The BIS of the bank after the new
deposit of Rs. 5000 is made would be as follows:
STATE BANK OF INDIA
Balance Sheet
Liabilities Assets
Deposits ,10,00 Cash 10,00
0
10,00 0
10,00
._-
Mr. Z has the right to withdraw. upto Rs. 8,000. Let us extend our chain of transactions.
Supposing Mr. Z issues a cheque for Rs. 8,000 to Rajan and Company towards buying
a machine. MI5 Rajan and Company deposits the cheque with its bank, Indian Bank.
The Indian Bank will collect the amount from State Bank.
After the cheque is collected, the Balance Sheet of the bank would stand as follows:
INDIAN BANK
Balance Sheet
Liabilities Assets
Deposits 8,000 Cash 8,000
8,000 8,000
Indian Bank ha. an excess. of Rs. 6,400 after keeping 20% cash reserve, which it can
lend or invest. Let us further assume that the bank buys securities worth Rs. 6.400 from
Mr. J. After this transaction, the Balance Sheet of the bank would be:
INDIAN BANK
Balance Sheet
Liabilities Assets
Deposits " 8,000 Cash 1,600
Investment 6,400
8,000 8,000
The bank may give a cheque for Rs. 6,400 to Mr. J which may be deposited in his bank
or the account of Mr. J will be credited with Rs. 6,400 which he may draw at any time. In
the above illustration, the initial cash of Rs. 10,000 has created a loan of Rs. 8,000,
which has become a deposit in another bank. The new deposit has generated another
deposit of Rs. 6,400 and this process would continue till the original deposit is
exhausted completely.
The final sum would be arrived at as follows:
Rs. -10,000 + 8,000 + 6,400 + 5,120 + 4,000 + 3,288 + ... = Rs. 50,000.
Thus Rs. 10,000 cash is able to create a new deposit of Rs. 50,000. In this way the
deposit becomes loan or investment and in turn becomes a new deposit and it goes on.
This is the process of multiple creation of credit by commercial banks.
Illustration of the Maximum Expansion of Bank loans and
Deposits
(In Rupees)
Bank Deposit Retained as Reserve Lent .:.
First 10,000-00 2,000-00 8,000-00
Second 8,000-00 1,600-00 6,400-00
Third 6,400-00 l,280-00 5,120-00
Fourth 5,120-00 1,024-00 4,096-00
Fifth 4,096-00 819-20 . 3,276-80
Sixth 3,276-80 655-36. 2,621-44
Seventh 2,621-44 524-29 2,097-15
Eighth 2,097-15 419-43 1,677-68
Ninth 1,677-68 335-54 1,342-14
Tenth 1,342-14 268-43 1,073-71
Total for
10 Banks 44,631- 8,926-25 35,704-92
21
Additional 5,368-79 1,073-15 4,295-08
Grand
All Banks 50,000-00 10,000-00 40,000~00
Deposit Multiplier or Credit Creation Formula:
The formula for deposit multiplier is:
K = 1/r
K = Deposit multiplier
r = ratio of cash reserve to deposit
If the cash ratio is 20% as, discussed in the above illustration or.2 the deposit multiplier
is: K = 1/r i.e. 1/2 = 5
If the cash reserve ratio is 10% or.1, the deposit multiplier is la. Thus the creation of
credit depends upon the ratio of cash reserve to deposit.
The higher the cash reserve ratio the lower will be the deposit multiplier. The total
creation is additional cash multiplied by deposit multiplier, K.
Supposing, the commercial banks get an additional cash, Rs. 100 crores as a result of
Government spending, they would be able to create to the extent of Rs. 500 crores
assuming a cash reserve of 20 per cent. That is,
Credit creation = K x 100 crores
= 5 x 100 = 500 crores
Credit Contraction
Commercial banks are able to multiply credit when deposits are made with them. If cash
is removed from the banking system, it results in multiple contraction of credit.
The process of multiple credit contraction tan be explained by making certain
assumptions.
(1) There is one bank having a cash reserve of Rs. 1,000, investment Rs. 9,000 and
deposits Rs. 10,000.
(2) The bank is required to keep 20% cash against the deposit.
The Balance Sheet of the bank would appear as follows:
Balance Sheet
Liabilities Assets
Deposits 10,000 Cash 1,000
Investment 9,000
10,000 10,000
Supposing Rs. 100 cash is withdrawn from the bank, the Balance Sheet of the bank
would appear as-follows:
Balance Sheet
Liabilities Assets
Deposits 9,900 Cash 900
Investment 9,000
9,900 9,900
Against a deposit of Rs. 9,900, the bank has got cash reserve of Rs.900 only. But it
should have cash reserve of Rs.1,980. To make good the deficiency, Rs.1,080, the
bank may either realise the loan or dispose of its investments. Getting back the loan at
once is difficult. So the bank will make up the deficit by disposing the investment worth
of Rs.1,080.
Assume that the bank sells the security to a who issues a cheque against his bank for
payment. After the amount is collected the Balance Sheet of the bank would be as
follows:
Balance Sheet
Liabilities Assets
Deposits 9,900 Cash 1,980
Investment 7,920
9,900 9,900
Similarly, other banks may have to dispose of their securities as a result of reduction in
the cash reserve. This process will go on till all the effects are exhausted. The initial
reduction of Rs. 100 will lead to a total decline of deposits to the extent of Rs. 500.
Limitations of Credit Creation
The above discussion shows that the banks have unlimited power to create credit. In
fact, the banks have to function under certain restrictions. The following are the
limitations on the power of commercial banks to create credit.
(1) Adequate cash reserve: The first factor that limits the capacity of banks to expand
credit is the necessity to keep adequate cash reserve. By creating deposits, banks
create their own liability and are prepared to honour customer's cheque upto an
agreed sum. The success of the bank depends upon the ability to meet the demand
of its depositors and failure to do so would result in loss of confidence of the
customers. A part of primary deposit received from the public is kept for this
purpose. If the banks maintain more cash, they could create less credit. Less cash
would enable them to multiply more credit.
(2) Availability of securities: The power of banks to create credit is curtailed by the
availability of adequate securities, in the market and possession of the same by the
borrowers. Banks do not create anything out of thin air. They acquire wealth such as
shares, debentures, bonds, etc., and exchange mobile wealth in the form. which
does the function of money. Banks could create credit when the borrowers produce
such security. To quote Prof. Sayers, "the banks put this newly created money into
the hands not of everybody at once, but of those individuals who can offer, to the
bank the kind of asset which the bank thinks attractive." The possession of such
security by borrowers ultimately depends upon the availability in the market.
(3) Quantity of money in circulation: Another limiting factor is the total quantity of
money in circulation. The Central Bank of a country has the monopoly power to
issue currency notes. The quantity of circulation of money increases with the issue
of more currency and declines with the decrease in it. Increased circulation improves
the cash position of banks with which they create more credit. A decrease in
circulation depletes the cash reserve which restricts the capacity to expand deposit.
(4) Attitude of people: The desire of the people to hold cash has its impact on the
power of banks to multiply credit. If the public decide to hold more cash due to
uncertainty about economic conditions, they would draw a large part of deposits. As
a result, banks are left with depleted cash reserve which restricts the capacity to
create credit. On the other hand, if the people deposit more with the banks, it adds to
the cash position and that would multiply the credit to a greater extent
(5) Policy of the central bank: The policy of the central bank influences the capacity of
the banks to multiply credit. Every commercial bank is required to keep certain
percentage of cash against its deposit liabilities with the central bank. For instance, if
the central bank directs the banks to keep 20% cash against deposit liabilities as
given in our illustration: the banks could expand the amount of deposit to 5 times. If
banks are required to keep more, say 25% they could create to the extent of 4 times
only. Thus higher the percentage of cash reserve ratio the smaller will be the volume
of credit and vice versa.
(6) Nature of business conditions: The volume of credit creation depends on the
nature of business conditions. During the period of business prosperity, due to the
prevalence of optimism, demand for loans and advances will be large and so banks
could expand more deposits. During the periods of recession, economic activities
are at the low ebb. Recession leads to more cautious attitude by bankers, causing
them to hold larger reserve balances. The demand for loans will be small and banks
could create credit to a limited extent.
(7) Leakages: The actual expansion of deposit is usually below the maximum possible
limit because of several types of leakages. The banks may not be able to expand
credit according to its surplus funds. Secondly, the loans extended by the banks are
assumed to return by way of new deposit. But people may not return the entire
amount or return only a part of it. To that extent; credit creation is limited.
(8) Behaviour of other banks: The power of credit creation is, limited by the behaviour
of other banks. If some banks do not grant loans to the extent required of the
banking system, the credit expansion will be restricted.
(9) Use of cheque: The last factor that limits the capacity of banks to expand credit is
the use of cheques. When the use of cheque currency is popular among public, they
pay one another by cheque and the cash position of the banks is unaffected. When
the use of it is scanty, people will withdraw cash for every transaction and banks
ought to be alert by keeping more cash and it restricts the power to create credit. In
underdeveloped countries like India, use of cheque is not popular whereas cheque is
used extensively in developed countries.
