There is an interesting mechanism at work here. Banks keep only a small proportion of their deposits as cash with themselves. For example, banks in India these days hold about 15 per cent of their deposits as cash. This is kept as provision to pay the depositors who might come to withdraw money from the bank on any given day. Since, on any particular day, only some of its many depositors come to withdraw cash, the bank is able to manage with this cash. Banks use the major portion of the deposits to extend loans. There is a huge demand for loans for various economic activities. We shall read more about this in the following sections. Banks make use of the deposits to meet the loan requirements of the people. In this way, banks mediate between those who have surplus funds (the depositors) and those who are in need of these funds (the borrowers). Banks charge a higher interest rate on loans than what they offer on deposits. The difference between what is charged from borrowers and what is paid to depositors is their main source of income.
TWO DIFFERENT CREDIT SITUATIONS
A large number of transactions in our day-to-day activities involve credit in some form or the other. Credit (loan) refers to an agreement in which the lender supplies the borrower with money, goods or services in return for the promise of future payment. Let us see how credit works through the following two examples. In this case, Salim obtains credit to meet the working capital needs of production. The credit helps him to meet the ongoing expenses of production, complete production on time, and thereby increase his earnings. Credit therefore plays a vital and positive role in this situation
In rural areas, the main demand for credit is for crop production. Crop production involves considerable costs on seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, water, electricity, repair of equipment, etc. There is a minimum stretch of three to four months between the time when the farmers buy these inputs and when they sell the crop. Farmers usually take crop loans at the beginning of the season and repay the loan after harvest. Repayment of the loan is crucially dependent on the income from farming In Swapna’s case, the failure of the crop loan repayment impossible.she had to sell part of the land to repay the loan. Credit,instead of helping Swapna improve heer earnings,left her worse off this is an example of what is commonly called debt-trap.creadit in this case pushes the borrower into a sitiation from which recovery is very painful. In one situation credit helps to increase earnings and therefore the person is better off than before. In another situation, because of the crop failure, credit pushes the person into a debt trap. To repay her loan she has to sell a portion of her land. She is clearly much worse off than before. Whether credit would be useful or not, therefore, depends on the risks in the situation and whether there is some support, in case of loss.Read More....
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