Economic growth, in general, means a progress or growth in real aspect in a nation's economy. In dealing with the economic growth, however, emphasis should be put on the progress in financial aspects of the economy as well as real aspect. That's becau...
Economic growth, in general, means a progress or growth in real aspect in a nation's economy. In dealing with the economic growth, however, emphasis should be put on the progress in financial aspects of the economy as well as real aspect. That's because, if a increase in income or cumulation of wealth is one hand, a cumulation of financial assets or debuts in the other of the economic growth.
Therefore, the profess of the economic growth is that of cumulation of the financial assets. Lack of the financial assets brings about comparative low levels of savings and investment, and in subsequence, weak growth rate of the economy. This then accompanies inadequate distribution of resources and inefficient disposition of investment. Financial assets, as a means of carrying sayings and investment, stimulates efficient distribution of sayings and investment to raise the levels of savings and investment itself.
Mediating role of financial assets in smooth transference of sayings, however, can be best taken only when the highly developed stock market exists, where the stock is transacted with rapidity and kept with efficiency and equality. It is for this need that open market comes into operation. Open stock market enhances flexibility of stock prices and make supply and demand for stocks more elastic to its prices, consequently diversifying the functions of the financial intermediaries. It then not only lowers marginal cost of issuance of the financial assets but also increases marginal utility in holdings of financial assets, raising levels of savings and investment, and contribution to efficient distribution of capitals.
So far as savings and investment units work seperately, investment naturally should bring about an increase in the financial assets. And because investment, say, cumulation of real assets can only be possible when the economic growth persists, increase in financial assets should be said to be achieved in line with the economic growth.
Cumulation of such a large financial assets ha? no leas influence on the efficiency of demand for money and financial policy. While banks intervene directly in money supply, other financial institutions influence on the income velocity of money through purchasing and selling of financial assets with high liquidity.
Financial policy of a nation, which has confined to monetary operations, needs to be extended to the control of general liquidity in a nation's economy so as to be able to reach liquidity structure and ether sensible sector. Therefore, it is needed that monetary control through financial policy should cover all the financial institutions.
In Korea, development in non-monetary indirect financial assets in still negligible in quantity and the nation's banks themselves, different from those of developed countries, have been operated with mixed banking system. However, it has made remarkable contributions to the rapid economic growth. Although existing policies limited to the control of commercial banks have been able to work well up to now due to the fact that financing business has not been much subdivided, a shift in policy measures will be neccessitated inevitably in the future, when rapid increase in financial assets substitutes money and development of non-monetary financial intermediaries makes those highly competitive with commercial banks in consequence.