The credit system and its characteristics. Credit system

Topic 7. Credit system and its structure

The credit system plays an important role in the development of economic relations. Through the credit system, the essence and functions of credit with all its forms and methods of lending are realized.

There are two concepts of the credit system:

1) a set of credit relations, forms and methods of lending (functional form);

2) a set of credit and financial institutions that accumulate available funds and lend them out (institutional form).

In the first aspect, the credit system is represented by banking, consumer, commercial, government, and international credit. All these types of credit are characterized by specific forms of relationships and lending methods. These relations are implemented and organized by specialized institutions that form the credit system in the second (institutional) sense. The leading link in the institutional structure of the credit system are banks. The credit system is a broader and more capacious concept than the banking system, since it also includes specialized financial and credit institutions of a non-banking type (para-banking system).

Modern credit system- is a set of various credit and financial institutions operating in the loan capital market and carrying out the accumulation and mobilization of monetary capital.

The credit system consists from credit instruments, institutions and markets.

Credit instruments- various forms and types of loans, deposits, bank accounts, interest rates.

Credit institutions- monetary regulatory authorities, primarily the Central Bank and its institutions.

Credit market- the mechanism of interaction between supply and demand for credit and the formation of interest rates.

The main participants in this market:

· primary investors, that is, owners of free financial resources;

· specialized intermediaries represented by financial institutions;

· borrowers represented by legal entities, individuals and the state;

Functions of the credit system:

· redistribution of monetary capital;

· accumulation and mobilization of monetary capital;

· savings in distribution costs;

· acceleration of concentration and centralization of capital;

· stimulating - credit acts as a regulator of the economy.

The entire set of banks in the national economy forms banking system of the country. Currently, in almost all countries with developed market economies, the banking system has two or three levels.

First level of banking The system is formed by a central bank (or a set of banking institutions that perform the functions of a central bank, for example the US Federal Reserve System). It is legally assigned a monopoly on the issue of national banknotes and a number of special functions in the field of monetary policy.

Second level of two-tier banking system occupied by commercial banks. They concentrate the bulk of credit resources, carry out a wide range of banking operations and provide financial services for legal entities and individuals. Commercial banks form the backbone of the country's credit system.

Third level represented by financial and credit institutions performing certain banking functions. These include:

pawnshops, credit unions and partnerships, leasing, factoring companies; clearing centers, insurance organizations, pension funds, investment funds and companies, trust companies, etc.

In Russia, a two-tier banking system has also practically been formed: the first level is the Central Bank of Issue - the Bank of Russia, the second level is commercial banks and other financial and credit institutions carrying out individual banking operations.

The credit system is a part of the financial market, which is represented by those of its elements (functional and institutional) that directly engage in credit operations or regulate their implementation. A loan is the movement of funds from a lender to a borrower on the terms of repayment, urgency and repayment of loans. The main conditions for the existence of a loan are the presence of supply and demand for, which is expressed in the existence of a need for additional financial resources among some economic entities and the availability of available funds among others.

Sources of temporarily free funds may include:

1. Population, at the expense of savings, which in this case are placed through indirect financing channels (in institutions of the credit system);

2. Enterprises, due to capital for one reason or another, released from circulation. These parts of capital may be:

depreciation fund funds, which are accrued continuously as products are sold, and are spent discretely, at those moments when major repairs, modernization or replacement of fixed assets are carried out;
working capital that is released due to a decrease in production volume or as a result of measures to reduce current production costs;
funds from special and reserve funds, which are formed from the profits of the enterprise and have a cumulative target nature;
retained earnings: the current profit of the enterprise, before its distribution for accumulation and consumption.

3. A state that conducts budget transfers and appropriations through the banking system or capitalizes extra-budgetary funds in the form of bank deposits (time accounts).

The same groups of subjects are consumers of credit resources, and one and the same representative of them can be both a lender (actual) and a borrower (for example, a citizen who has a savings account and purchases goods on credit).

In order of degree of participation in the formation of demand for loans:

1. Enterprises that need additional funds for the following purposes:

financing of trade turnover, which creates a gap in the time of receipt of revenue from the sale of products and the beginning of a new cycle of production and economic activity;
financing of measures to expand production volumes, lack of working capital;
financing of capital construction, repair, modernization, etc.: expanded reproduction of fixed assets cannot be ensured by means of the depreciation fund.

2. The population, which, through consumer credit, gets the opportunity to satisfy needs for which its own funds are not enough.

3. The state, which, as a rule, avoids directly raising funds from the credit market in the form of loans, but consumes credit resources through the conversion of savings into government loans.

The objectives of the credit system generally coincide with the objectives of the financial market, however, there are certain specifics in their implementation.

The problem of accumulation in the loan market is of a general nature, because at the time of formation of loan capital, the exact purposes of its use are not determined. This means that each subject of the credit market strives for maximum accumulation of funds, which leads, on the one hand, to the insecurity of the attracted capital with the subject’s own funds, and on the other, to the formation of monopolies in this market. In this regard, in particular, the loan market is carefully regulated by the state.

The problem of redistribution is solved by the credit market much more quickly than by the stock market: the processes of placing money in institutions of the credit system and obtaining loans proceed much faster than the processes of buying and selling securities, especially corporate ones on the primary stock market.

The task of determining the price of credit resources is common to the financial market, because The credit system is closely connected with the stock system and there is a constant flow of funds between them. However, the types of money prices in these systems (in these markets) are different and interest rates are most characteristic of the credit system. There are two main types of interest rates:

– deposit interest rate – the price of attracting funds to the credit system (interest on deposits);

– loan interest rate – the price of placing funds among borrowers (interest on loans).

Within each type of rate there is a huge variety of specific rates, the size of which is determined by many factors: the terms of loans and deposits, goals, sizes, form of collateral for loans, etc. However, they all fluctuate relative to a conventional value - the interest rate. (The closest thing to it is the central bank refinancing rate.)

The interest rate is set as the price of demand and supply of financial resources, which are determined by the following main factors:

1. The trend of changes in the growth rate of the national product: their increase increases the need for funds and at the same time, with a delay, to an increase in free funds through an increase in income. Reducing the pace leads to the opposite changes. In general, since the economy is objectively characterized by a cyclical nature of development, this leads to constant fluctuations in the interest rate.

2. The amount of savings of the population, which is determined, although not directly dependent on the state of the economy, but, in addition, by many non-formalized factors: psychology, national characteristics, demographic parameters, etc.

3. Financial and credit policy of the state, which is not always determined by economic goals, but in some cases predominantly by purely political reasons.

4. Inflation rates, which, depending on their magnitude, can stimulate both demand and supply in the loan market. Rising inflation stimulates producers and increases their need for financial resources, which increases the interest rate and leads to an influx of funds into the credit system. However, at a certain level of inflation, the repayment of funds by borrowers stops, the violation of obligations by the subjects of the credit system to creditors and the destruction of the financial market. In some situations, inflation rates exceed the interest rate (the formation of a negative discount rate), which also has sharply negative consequences of a macroeconomic nature.

5. Profitability of investments in securities, changes in which lead to a redistribution of resources between the credit market and the stock market.

6. The state of the foreign sector of the economy, which can stimulate the inflow or outflow of credit resources from the national market.

The credit system provides two forms of credit within the credit market: commercial and banking.

A commercial loan is a loan provided by one specific entrepreneur to another in the form of the sale of goods (provision of services) with deferred payment. The main features of this form of loan are:

commercial credit is combined with a specific act of purchase and sale, outside of which it does not exist;
A commercial loan, as a rule, is formalized by a bill of exchange - a debt obligation of the recipient to the seller, which is a security with the possibility of market circulation. The use of a bill of exchange allows the creditor to transfer the loan itself to another person by selling it;
the purpose of a commercial loan is to accelerate trade turnover: the process of selling goods;
The interest on a commercial loan is hidden, i.e. appears in the form of an increase in price;
The size of a commercial loan is limited by the capabilities of a particular lender.

Development of the functions of money as a means of accumulation and the possibility of not only saving funds, but also redistributing them among economic entities in need of them.

To satisfy the numerous needs of society for borrowed funds, loan capital is used. The movement of this capital is called credit.

The most important source of loan capital is the available funds of financial institutions; monetary savings of the population.

A commercial loan is provided by an enterprise in the form of the sale of goods with deferred payment.

Bank credit is provided by the owner of funds to borrowers in the form of cash loans.

Depending on the scope of application, a distinction is made between credit funds for the acquisition of working capital and loans - a loan for the acquisition of fixed capital. According to the terms of provision, loans are divided into:

short-term,

mid-term,

long-term.

Credit performs a number of functions:

distribution;

emission (on the basis of a loan and in connection with the loan, banknotes, non-cash means of payment, and securities are issued);

control (in the process of performing credit transactions, the economic activities of enterprises and their financial condition are monitored);

regulating (through various measures, such as changing interest rates, providing guarantees, the state can influence economic processes in the economy) Abramova M.A. Finance and credit. - M: Jurisprudence, 2006..

The credit system consists of the banking system and a set of non-banking financial institutions capable of accumulating temporarily available funds and placing them with the help of credit. Non-banking financial institutions include investment, financial and insurance companies, pension funds, various kinds of savings banks, cash desks, pawnshops, etc.

The main functions of the central bank include the following:

1. The emission function, which retains its importance, since cash is still needed for a significant part of payments and to ensure liquidity of the credit system, which must have the means of final repayment of debt obligations.
2. The function of accumulating and storing cash reserves for commercial banks, that is, each bank that is a member of the national credit system is obliged to keep in a reserve account with the Central Bank an amount in a certain proportion to the size of its deposits. At the same time, the Central Bank, by tradition, is the custodian of the country's official gold and foreign exchange reserves (Russia's official foreign exchange reserves in 1993 amounted to $4 billion and about 300 tons of gold).
3. The lending function of commercial banks, characteristic of a socialist economy with a state monopoly on lending activities, as well as for the transition period, accompanied by a shortage of funds in the hands of private financial institutions. It is less pronounced in a developed market economy, where such lending exists mainly during periods of financial difficulties.
4. Providing loans and performing settlement operations for government agencies, since up to half or more of countries’ GDP is accumulated in budgets at various levels. These funds are accumulated in accounts at central banks and spent from them. At the same time, central banks maintain accounts of government agencies and organizations. In addition, they carry out transactions with government securities, provide credit to the state in the form of direct short-term and long-term loans or the purchase of government bonds. Central banks also conduct transactions in gold and foreign currencies on behalf of government agencies.
5. Clearing function or function of conducting non-cash payments. Thus, in a number of countries, the central bank conducts nationwide clearing operations, acting as an intermediary between commercial banks located in different parts of the country. An example of a national clearing house is the Federal Reserve System of the United States.

Commercial banks are private and public banks that carry out universal lending operations to industrial, commercial and other enterprises, mainly at the expense of the monetary capital that they receive in the form of deposits.

There are several of their functions:

1. Accumulating demand deposits, or maintaining current accounts, and paying checks drawn on these banks.
2. Providing loans to entrepreneurs. The special merit of commercial banks is also the implementation of settlements throughout the national economy. On the basis of their operations, credit money (checks, bank bills) arises. Specialized financial institutions include banking and non-banking organizations specializing in certain types of lending. Thus, foreign trade banks specialize in lending for the export and import of goods, and mortgage banks and companies specialize in providing long-term loans secured by real estate (land and buildings).

Credit system can be characterized according to three aspects: essential, institutional And functional.

IN essential aspect, the credit system is a system of credit and financial relations arising in connection with the provision, use and repayment of loans on the terms of repayment, payment and urgency.

See further:

WITH institutional point of view - this is a system of credit and financial institutions servicing credit relations (banks, financial companies, stock and currency exchanges, insurance companies, etc.).

WITH functional positions, the credit system is a set of species And forms loan.

See further:

So you can give three definitions of the credit system- This:

this is a set of forms and types of lending (functional aspect)
this is a set of financial institutions (institutional aspect)
this is a set of credit and financial relations (essential aspect)

Structure of the credit system

Credit system in the institutional aspect - a set of credit and financial institutions serving the entire sphere of credit relations. All credit institutions are interconnected and form a certain hierarchical structure (Fig. 1).

The core of the entire credit system is banking system. Single-level The banking system involves the use of mainly horizontal connections between banks, the universalization of their operations and the performance of similar functions.

Rice. 1. Structure of the credit and banking system

The two-tier banking system is based on connections between banks in two planes: horizontally and vertically. Vertically, relations arise of subordination to the central bank as the governing and regulatory body of the lower levels of the system.

The state's credit system consists of the banking system and the totality of the so-called non-banking banks, i.e., non-banking financial institutions capable of accumulating temporarily available funds and placing them with the help of credit. In world practice, non-banking financial institutions are represented by investment, financial and insurance companies, pension funds, savings banks, pawnshops and credit cooperation. These institutions, although not formally banks, perform many banking operations and compete with banks. However, despite the gradual erasure of differences between banks and non-bank financial institutions, the core of the credit infrastructure remains the banking system.

The entire set of banks in the national economy forms the country's banking system. Currently, in almost all countries with developed market economies, the banking system has two levels.

First level of the banking system forms a central bank (or a set of banking institutions that perform the functions of a central bank, for example, the US Federal Reserve System). It is legally assigned a monopoly on the issue of national banknotes and a number of special functions in the field of monetary policy.

Second level The two-tier banking system is occupied by commercial banks. They concentrate the bulk of credit resources and carry out a wide range of banking operations and financial services for legal entities and individuals. These banks are organized on a share (joint-stock) basis and, according to the form of ownership, are divided into state-owned, joint-stock and cooperative.

Structure of the credit and banking system

Banking system of Russia- one of its most important elements. Like the entire Russian economy, the banking system is currently undergoing fundamental changes, affecting both its structural and functional parts. The changes are fixed by banking legislation, the development of which is carried out on the basis of foreign experience, the experience of the first years of economic reforms in Russia, and modern ideas about the essence and purpose of banking institutions.

The banking system includes three groups of credit and financial institutions:

At the head of the credit system is the central bank. It, as a rule, belongs to the state and performs the main functions of regulating the economy.

central bank monopolistically issues (issues) credit money in cash (banknotes), carries out lending to commercial banks, stores cash reserves of other credit institutions, carries out settlement operations and exercises control over the activities of other credit institutions.

Commercial banks- These are credit institutions of a universal nature that carry out credit, stock, and intermediary operations, and organize payment turnover on the scale of the national economy.

Specialized financial institutions engage in lending to certain areas and sectors of economic activity. They usually dominate narrow sectors of the capital market.

central bank

At the center of the credit system is the central bank, which, as a rule, belongs to the state and is the most important instrument of macroeconomic regulation of the economy. The Central Bank monopolizes the issue of () credit money in cash (banknotes), accumulates and stores cash reserves of other credit institutions, official gold and foreign exchange reserves of the state, provides loans to commercial banks, lends and performs settlement operations for the government, and monitors the activities of other credit institutions.

Commercial banks

The second element of the modern banking system is commercial banks - credit institutions of a universal nature that carry out credit, stock, and intermediary operations, carry out settlements and organize payment turnover on the scale of the entire national economy.

Specialized financial institutions

The third element of the banking system is specialized financial institutions engaged in lending to certain areas and sectors of economic activity. Their activities can be divided into one or two main operations, they dominate relatively narrow sectors of the capital market and have a specific clientele.

Specialized financial institutions include:

Investment banks
Savings institutions
Insurance companies
Investment companies

Investment banks are engaged in issuance and founding activities, i.e., they carry out operations to issue and place securities. They raise capital by selling their own shares or through loans from commercial banks.

Savings institutions(mutual savings banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions) accumulate household savings and invest money capital primarily in financing commercial and residential construction.

Insurance companies, the main function of which is, and have now become the most important channel for the accumulation of monetary savings of the population and long-term financing of the economy. Insurance companies focused their main attention on financing the largest corporations in the field of industry, transport and trade.

Pension funds, like insurance companies, it is actively shaping the economy, which is acquiring an increasingly important role in the process of expanded reproduction. Pension funds invest their accumulated cash reserves in bonds and shares of private companies and government securities, thus providing, usually long-term, financing of the economy and the state.

Investment companies act as an intermediate link between individual monetary capital and corporations operating in the non-financial sphere. Investment companies vary depending on fluctuations in securities prices. An increase in the price of the shares a company owns causes the price of its own shares to rise. The main area for investing capital of investment companies is corporate shares.

In modern conditions, specialized credit and financial institutions have taken an important place in the loan capital market, becoming the main reservoir of long-term capital in the money market, significantly displacing commercial banks in this area. However, the fall in the share of commercial banks in the total assets of financial institutions does not mean that their role in the economy has decreased. They continue to carry out the most important functions of the banking system: deposit and check issue, commercial credit, short-term financing, etc.

Revealing the essence of the credit system, we usually mean two sides of it. One side of the credit system is a set of credit relations, forms and methods of lending. Its second side is a set of banks and other credit and financial institutions that accumulate temporarily available funds and lend them out.

The credit system is, of course, a broader concept than the banking system, since it includes, in addition to banks, which are its leading link, banking, consumer, commercial, state, and interstate loans with their own forms of relations and lending methods.

The modern credit system includes two basic concepts: a set of credit and settlement relations based on certain forms and methods of lending, and a set of operating financial and credit institutions. The first concept of the credit system is associated with ensuring the movement of loan capital in the form of various forms of credit, and the second means that the credit system, through its institutions, accumulates temporarily free funds to direct them to legal entities and individuals, as well as the state.

The credit system operates through a credit mechanism, which is:

firstly, a system of connections for the accumulation and mobilization of monetary capital between credit institutions and various sectors of the economy;

secondly, relations associated with the redistribution of monetary capital between the credit institutions themselves within the framework of the existing capital market;

thirdly, the relationship between credit institutions and foreign clients.

The credit mechanism also includes all aspects of lending, investment, founding, intermediary, redistribution activities of the credit system represented by its institutions.

The credit system plays an important role: in maintaining a high rate of economic accumulation, which is typical for most industrialized countries; in resolving the problem of selling goods and services on the market; in the formation of international conditions of reproduction.

The creation of a modern credit system in Russia was preceded by a long historical period, which was determined by the specific socio-economic conditions of the development of our country.

Currently, the structure of the Russian credit system is as follows:

1. Central Bank of Russia.

2. Banking system: commercial banks; Savings Bank of Russia; other specialized banks.

3. Specialized financial institutions: insurance companies; non-state pension funds; investment companies; financial and construction companies.

Of course, the current structure of the credit system largely reflects the needs of a market economy.

At the same time, the process of establishing the credit system revealed certain problems and shortcomings in all its structural links. The main ones include the following:

Small commercial banks continue to exist, which, due to a weak financial base, cannot cope with the needs of clients;

Lack of real conditions for the development of the corporate securities market as a basis for the functioning of investment banks;

Lack of a real legislative framework to regulate the market of specialized non-banking institutions.