Economics

Study Notes

Factors Affecting the Supply of and Demand for Money (Financial Economics)

Last updated 21 Mar 2021

The supply of money in a modern economy and financial system is determined by three key factors:

“Open market operations” – this is effectively the same as Quantitative Easing. The Central Bank buys government bonds, effectively creating money
The “reserve requirement” imposed on banks – this is the % of deposits made by customers at the bank that the bank must keep hold of rather than lending it out
The policy interest rate set by the central bank – the rate of interest will influence how many households and businesses are willing and able to borrow. Most money in a modern economy is created by commercial bank lending so the rate of interest ultimately does have a bearing on the supply of money

Key factors affecting the demand for money

The rate of interest on loans
The number / value of monetary transactions that we expect to carry out
The extent to which we also want to hold other financial assets, such as bonds, property, saving (this is also influenced by the rate of interest) – this is known as the speculative motive for holding money
Changes in GDP
The extent to which it is possible to use debit cards / credit cards i.e. the pace of financial innovation
The extent to which we might have to pay out large unexpected payments, for example, for i.e. the precautionary motive
The rate of anticipated inflation