- Dollar Market

Money & Banking (Part III, Paper VII) Dr. Abhishek Anand Guest Asst. Professor T.N.B. College, Bhagalpur It is the largest market in the international monetary system. Euro- Dollar is not different from the U.S. dollar, but it is the American dollar which is deposited outside the country. The term Euro- Dollar is given because large number of U.S. dollars has been accumulated in the countries like Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. Moreover, Eurobanks have been dealing in other like British (sterling), German (Marks), Swiss (francs), etc. So it is no longer a Euro – dollar market, but Euro- currency market.

Growth & Origin

Number of factors led emergence of Euro- dollar market after World War II which can be discussed as below:

1. U.S. emerged as the most powerful nation in the post- war period which spent large sums of money on the rehabilitation of Europe, both in terms of economic and military . This led to transfers of large sums of U.S. dollars to Eurobanks. 2. Cold war which started in 1950s led and East European countries to transfer their dollar deposits from American to Eurobanks for the fear that they might be blocked by the American government. 3. Post- war Britain emerged as a debtor country. Consequently, British sterling which had dominated the international financial market in the pre- war period, gave place to the dollar in the post- war period. 4. Regulation –Q of the U.S. System had been a major factor which gave rise to Euro- dollar market in late 1960s.

Regulation- Q is a ceiling imposed on the payable on the time deposits with U.S. banks, and it prohibited the payment of any interest at all ion the deposits up to 30 days. This encouraged U.S. banks to open their branches in Europe and attract dollar deposits to be used for financing . In 1968 & 69 and in 1979 when Regulation – Q kept interest rates too low on time deposits, both U.S. citizens and foreigners having U.S. dollar in excess transferred them in Eurobanks because they paid higher rate of interests on time deposits.

Functioning of Euro- Dollar Market

Euro- Dollar market is a means of transferring short- term and medium term funds from one country to another. Euro- dollar loans and deposit expands whenever funds flow into the Eurobank as deposit from:

a) Commercial banks or residents of U.S. The flow of funds from U.S. can be caused by following reasons:  Fall in U.S. interest rates relative to Euro – dollar rates.  Increased desire for asset diversification.  Fall in the covered yield of foreign assets.  An expected appreciation of the U.S. dollar. b) Transfers by commercial banks or residents of other country. c) Central banks, either directly or through the bank of International Settlements.

Suppose that a bank in London acquires dollar- deposits on a New York bank. If the London bank simply keeps these deposits then no euro- dollar is created. But if the bank lends this dollar to some individual at interest rate, it creates dollar deposit claims against itself.

Role in International Market

Euro- dollar market has been playing an important role in international financial market such as:

1. Investing and borrowing U.S. dollar is the core function of the Eurocurrency market. It transfers short- term and medium- term funds throughout the world, thereby increasing international capital mobility. 2. Eurocurrency market attracts funds because it offers higher interest rates, greater flexibility of maturities, and a wider range of investment qualities than the other short- term markets. 3. It attracts borrowers because it lends funds at relatively low interest rate it charges and receives, both because of the economies of scale afforded by concentrating on wholesale transactions, and because the Eurobanks are not subject to the regulation which tend to raise cost in domestic banking. 4. Commercial banks, central banks, government treasuries, MNCs are the borrowers and lenders in the Eurocurrency market. Private firms are often engaged in hedging and arbitrage operations in Euro- dollars in order to earn profits from interest differentials. 5. Expansion of Euro- dollar market has greatly increase international capital mobility by integrating international capital markets. It has played an effective role in recycling funds from countries having surplus BoP to those having deficit BoP. 6. International flows of Euro- dollars have improved economic efficiency by improving interest differentials among nations. 7. Euro- dollar market has resolved the problem of countries whose policy objective aim at controlling international capital movements. Example- When deposits are transferred from U.S. bank to Eurobank, there is an outflow of capital which increases a U.S. deficit in BoP or reduces the surplus. On the opposite case, there is an inflow of capital when the transfer is from Eurobank to U.S. bank. If the Eurobank is the central bank of the country which transfers some of the dollar holding into Euro- dollar deposits, transfer does not affect the U.S. deficit/ surplus, but helps to it, because transfer consists of official foreign exchange. However, these flows of Euro- dollars have an adverse effect on the domestic monetary policy. When the monetary authority of a country is trying to curb inflation, an inflow of short- term capital defects such a policy. 8. Euro – dollar provides enormous funds of liquid resources which are used for speculative capital movements. These expose the economies of the countries to sudden and large withdrawals of credit.

Eurocurrency is deposits in banks that are located outside the borders of the country that issue the currency, the deposit is denominated in.

Example- Japan Yen held in Brazilian bank is a Eurocurrency deposit. U.S. dollar held in Singapore bank is a Eurocurrency/ Euro- dollar deposit.

Eurocurrency does not have to involve either with Eurocurrency or .

Four main currencies are dollar (U.S.), euro (Eorozone), pound (Britain), yen (Japan). Eurobank is a financial institution anywhere in the world which accepts deposits or makes loans in any foreign currency. Eurobanks have facilitated trade and investment between countries, which was difficult in the past for lack of intermediaries that would accept foreign currency.

Example- If an American company wants to buy parts from European company; it can use the Eurobank to obtain the proper currency. Rather than holding foreign currency in its own a/c, an American company can simply pay to Eurobanks in dollars, and the Eurobank will complete the transaction in . Eg.- Ergasias (Greece)

So, there is no effect on surplus/ deficit.