Central Bank - Credit

The modern economy is a credit economy. Credit is the life-blood of modern business. Accordingly control of credit is essential for stability and orderly growth of an economy. There are two types of controls used by the central banks in modern time for regulating bank advances.
i.Quantitive or General Control
ii.Quantitive or Selective Credit Controls
These are discussed below
i. Quantitive or General Control.
The aim of Quantitive Controls is to regulate the amount of bank advances i.e. to make the banks lend more or lend less. Some of the controls are
a. Manipulation of Bank Rate
The bank rate is the rate at which the central bank of a country is willing discount the first class bills. It is thus the rate of discount of the central bank. If the central bank wants to control credit, it will raise the bank rate. As a result the market rate will go up. Borrowing will consequently be discouraged. Those who hold stocks of commodities with borrowed money will unload their stocks, since as a result of the rise in the interest. They will repay their loans thus the raising of bank rate will lead to a contraction of credit.
b. Open Market Operations
The term open market operations in the wider sense means purchase or sale of any kind of papers in which it deals like government securities or any other trade securities etc. In practice this term is used to identify the purchase and sale of government securities by the central bank. When the central bank sells securities in the open market it receives payments in the form of a cheque on one of the commercial banks. If the purchaser is a bank the cheque is drawn against the purchasing bank. In both cases the result is the same. The cash balance of the bank in question which it keeps with the central bank is to that extent reduced with the reduction of its cash the commercial bank has to reduce its louding. Thus credit contracts.


Credit Instruments

CREDIT INSTRUMENTS
Credit Instruments are the documents describing details of credit and debit. Credit Instruments provide a written means fro future reference describing terms and conditions of any debt and loan. Credit Instruments may be an order for payment of money to a specified person or it may be a promise to pay the loan. Credit Instruments generally in use are cheques, bills of exchanges, bank overdraft etc.
KINDS OF CREDIT INSTRUMENTS
There are two broad kinds of Credit Instruments.
1. Negotiable Instruments
According to the negotiable instruments Act under Section 13-A, A negotiable instrument means a cheque promissory note and a bill of exchange which are payable to the bearer of the instrument or the person to be ordered.
Features of Negotiable Instruments
i. It must be unconditional
ii. It must be in writing
iii. It is payable on demand or the period for the payment which is determined.
2. Non-Negotiable Instruments
Non-Negotiable Instruments can not be transferred or the documents which are restricted to transfer by the issuer e.g. Money Order, Postal Order, Shares Certificate etc. Such documents appears at the name of the beneficiary and the payments are made only to those persons to whom the instruments are made payable