Merkez bankacılığının ekonomi içindeki yeri ve önemi

Abstract

Merkez Bankaları sahip oldukları parasal gücün yanısıra ekonomi bürokrasisi içindeki yerleri ile de ülkelerin sosyoekonomik yapı ve düzenlerini etkileyen kurumlardır. Bankalar ve diğer mali kurumlar ile olan ilişkileri, faiz ve para politikalarına etkileri, enflasyon ile direk temasları ve altın ve döviz politikaları ile bağlantıları düşünüldüğünde Merkez Bankaları' nın ekonomi içindeki önemleri çok daha belirginleşir. Devletin bankası olarak kamuya krediler açan, bankacılık hizmeti veren, bankaların bankası olarak refinansman politikalarını yürüten, risk denetim merkezi görevini üstlenmiş, bankaları denetleyen kuruluşlardır. Bu çalışmada Merkez Bankaları'nın döviz, altın, para piyasaları üzerindeki belirleyici etkileri yerine sadece bankalar üzerindeki denetleyici özellikleri ön plana çıkartılmaktadır..

The Bank of England chartered in 3 694 is the second oldest central hank in the world (the central hank of Sweden is the oldest). Just when it crossed the border between commercial and central hank is an open question. However, its development has had an important influsnce on the form and functions of most other central banks. This is due in large part to the writings on the subject of central banking and, in particular, the proper role of the Bank of England by Walter Bagehot in Lombard Street (1970). The Bank of England, like the Ottoman Bank, was established to raise funds for the government (to finan ce a war). In return for a loan of 61,2 million, the Bank of England was granted a royal charter with a mono poly of joint stock banking with limited liability. No other bank in England was permitted the legal form of a joint stock company with limited liability until 1826. All other banks in England were relatively small private banks. The Bank of England was not given a monopoly of note issue until 1844 and then only in the immediate vicinity of London. Nevertheless, its privileged posi tion as a joint stock compan, government banker, and hence holder of the governments gold reserves, gave its banknotes high standing. These notes were used for virtually all large transactions in London during the eighteenth century. By the second half of the eighteenth century, almost all the private bankers in London had ceased issuing their own banknotes. Herein lies the origin of two central banking functions - banker to the government and banker to ot her banks. The general acceptability of Bank of England notes led to the opening of accounts by the private banks with the Bank of England. The*' private banks were thus able to withdraw from their deposits Bank of England notes which their customers preferred increasingly to gold for making payments. Furthermore, fold, which was costly tostore and guard, could be eposited with the Bank of England for safekeeping. - vi In the first half of the nineteenth centry, there was much debate over the government» s role in managing the currency. The preeminent position of the Bank of England was also subject to a great deal of discussion. The result, after a number of banking panics, was the Bank Charter Act of 1844* In effect, this legislation gave a monopoly» albeit restricted, of note issue to the Bank of England. It was also during the first half of the nineteenth century that the Bank of England assumed another central banking function - that of lender of last resort. The Bank of England first discounted bills of private banks in 1797. Pew private banks had held accounts with the Bank of England before this date. The financial panics of 1825 and 1837 resulting in bank failures due to illiquidity generated criticism against the Bank of England for not coming to the help of smaller banks. In response, the Bank of England begon to assist other financial institutions during crises by redis counting bills of exchange. In this way, the smaller banks were able to meet depositors* cash withdrawals. Panics were averted at no cost to the Bank of England; indeed, the Bank of England made a profit. But how did the Bank of England get the money to lend to other financial institutions at such times? First, cash withdrawal was typically in the form of Bank of England notes - there was confidence in the Bank of England even if not in the smaller banks. Hence, some of the extra supply of cash could com& from the note reserve of the Bank of England itself. (The 1844 Act limited the amount of new notes which the Bank of England was allowed to print - although it obtained special per mission from Parliament to print extra notes during two subsequent financial crises.) Second, convertibility of banknotes into gold was easily maintained through interest rate manipulation. If the Bank of England needed more gold it raised "bank rate", i.e. the rate at which it lent to the other banks. As a market leader, the Bank of England's interest rate influenced all other interest rates in London. And higher interest rates in London attracted gold inflows from abroad, most of which would soon find their way into the Bank of England. In this way, the Bank of England had assumed the central bankingfunction of maintaining conf edence in the country's money and banking systems. On the one hand, it ensured that its banknotes could almost always be converted into gold (and to this day Bank of England notes bear the inscription »I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of..."). On the other hand, it came - vii - to the rescue of the other banks to prevent a run on them, i.e. large withdrawals of deposits arising from depositors» fear of default and insolvency. Under a fractional reserve banking system, banks oannot meet deposit withdrawals of panic dimensions. A large pro portion of the assets which back their deposite are illiquid and so are just not available to meet deposit withdrawals, as shown in Chapter 3. The United States suffered severely from periodic panics resulting in waves of bank failures during the nineteenth century, a. g. in 1873, 1890 and 1893. Dissa tisfaction with the banking system was heightened by the banking panic of 1907. In response to it, a National Monetary Commission was set up to produce recommendations for reform. The Commission report of 1910 laid the basis for the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 which established the unique central bank of the United States. The Federal Reserve Act was a compromise between those wanting stability of the banking system and those who disliked the idea of financial power concentrated in one Washington based institution. The Federal Reserve Act established 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C. The Board had little authority and no financial resources. In fact, from 1914 until his death in 1928, the governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York assumed the leadership of the Federal Reserve system* Without his decisive personality, the Federal Reserve System failed miserably to fulfil its obligation to maintain confidence in the banking system after the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Thousands of banks failed as a result öf panic induced deposit withdrawals between 1930 and 1933. To prevent further banking panics, tem porary legislation to insure bank deposits through a government agency was passed in 1933, taking effect from 1 January 1934* A permanent system of deposit insurance became effective under the provisions of the Banking Act of 1935 which, among other things, established the Fe deral Deposit Insurance Corporation. In Turkey, cnnfidence in the domestic currency is not, of course, achieved through convertibility into gold, Rather the Laws the Protection of the Value of the Turkish Currency of 1930 and 1933, as well as the Central Bank Law itself, lay down principles for maintaining the value of the Turkish lira and hence confidence in it. The Central Bank Law also established a Bank Liquidation Fund, subscribed to by other banks, out of which the Merkez Bankası is to pay depositors in full should a bank fail. In these ways, the Merkez Bankası carries out its responsibilities to maintain confidence in Turkey's money and banking system. *. - viii - By 1870, the Bank of England was performing all the major central hanking functions generally recognised todey. However, it was doing so not for the purpose of implementing any conscious monetary policy in the ca pacity of an arm of government hut simply as a large private hank* And this explains why quite a number of central hanks today are joint stock companies with some shares owned privately. Under the gold standart and laissez faire, the Bank of England operated under a set of well defined rules with respect to its central hanking functions. Ther^ "as no room for monetary policy making as it is known today. Therefore, there was little disadvantage in the status of the Bank of England as a private joint stock company. On the other hand, there was a strong case for keeping government at arm's length. Govern ment involvement in the provision of money invariably led to debasement and inflation. So in the 1920s, when the establishment of the Merkez Bankası was being orga nised, one of the accepted canons of central banking was the Independence of central bank from government. Typically, a central bank is banker to the govern ment and to commercial banks. As the government's ban ker, the central bank maintains government deposits and lends to the government by discounting treasury bills or bonds or by making advances. As banker to com mercial banks, the central bank also holds banks' depo sits and lends by rediscounting bills and/ or by pro viding overdrafts. Central banks often also hold accounts for private customers and for foreign central banks and financial institutions. By lending to commercial banks, the central bank can prevent bank failures due to sudden cash withdrawals. In this way and through control over the money supply, the central bank can perform its most important functions of maintaining confidence in a country's national money. Central banks are also responsible for the note issue as well as implementation of monetary policy, i.e. control over the aggregate supply of money. Most central banks play an important role in the area of foreign trade and exchange. Central banks of all countries belonging to the International Monetary Fund hold their countries' official reserves of gold and foreign exchange. The responsibility for maintaining confidence in a eontry's national money is frequently staded in terms of maintaining the value of domestic money against a foreign currency, a.g. the dollar. As - ix - the repository of official gold and foreign exchange reserves, the central hank is often given powers to regulate and control foreign exchange transactions. However, here the responsibilities of the central bank very greatly from country to country. Many central banks have supervisory duties over other financial institutions. Maintaining confidence in the monetary system and controlling the money supply typically lead to special regulations on banks. One set of regulations is designed to ensure sound banking, another to facilitate monetary control. It seems logi cal therefore, that the central bank should supervise the other financial institutions to ensure that both sets of regulations are observed. However, supervisory responsibilities are not always given to central banks, because of their quasi-private status.