Class 10 Economics Chapter 3 Notes - Money and Credit

Money

• In the early periods when the use of money was not prominent, people had adopted a simple and convenient system where they exchanged goods with other types of goods. This was known as the Barter system.
• Suppose somebody has surplus vegetables and he needs wheat in lieu of that then he could find a person who has surplus wheat and needs vegetables.

Barter System

Double Coincidence of wants: 

Double Coincidence of Wants

Modern forms of Money

People often hold money in the form of bank deposits. 
For example, workers who receive their salaries at the end of the month may have extra cash at the beginning of the month. To manage this surplus, they deposit it into their bank accounts.

• Interest on Deposits: 
  Banks accept these deposits and pay interest on them, ensuring that the money is both safe and earns a return.
  Depositors can withdraw their money as needed, making these deposits known as demand deposits.
• Cheque Payments:  Demand deposits can also be used for payments via cheque. 
  A cheque is a written instruction from the account holder to the bank to pay a specific amount from their account to the recipient named on the cheque. 

This system allows for convenient and secure transactions, making demand deposits a practical medium of exchange.

Modern Forms of Money

Two Different Credit Situations

Credit (Loan): A financial agreement where the lender provides the borrower with money, goods, or services with the understanding that the borrower will repay the amount in the future.

Here are 2 examples that helps you to understand how credit works :-

1) Festive Season

• Context: With the festival season approaching in two months, Salim, a shoe manufacturer, receives an order for 3,000 pairs of shoes to be delivered in a month.
• Production Needs: To fulfill the order on time, Salim needs to hire additional workers and purchase raw materials.

2. Sources of Credit:

• Supplier Credit: Salim arranges for leather from a supplier with the promise of future payment.
• Cash Loan: He also secures an advance payment for 1,000 pairs of shoes from the large trader, agreeing to deliver the entire order by the end of the month.

3. Outcome: With the credit, Salim completes production on time, delivers the order, earns a good profit, and repays the borrowed money.

4. Role of Credit: In this case, credit plays a crucial and positive role in meeting Salim's working capital needs, enabling him to manage production costs, meet deadlines, and ultimately increase his earnings.

2) Swapna’s Problem

1. Loan for Cultivation: Swapna, a small farmer, takes a loan from a moneylender to cover the expenses of cultivating groundnuts on her three acres of land, hoping to repay the loan with the harvest.

2. Crop Failure: Midway through the season, pests destroy her crop. Despite using expensive pesticides, the crop fails, leaving her unable to repay the loan. Her debt grows over the year.

3. Struggle with Debt: The following year, Swapna takes another loan for cultivation. Although the crop is normal, her earnings are not enough to repay the previous debt.

4. Consequences: Trapped in debt, Swapna is forced to sell part of her land to repay the loan. Instead of improving her situation, credit leaves her worse off, leading to what is commonly known as a debt trap.

Formal and Informal Credit: Who gets What?

Sources of Credit

• The RBI sees that the banks give loans not just to profit-making businesses and traders but also to small cultivators, small scale industries, to small borrowers etc. Periodically, banks have to submit information to the RBI on how much they are lending, to whom, at what interest rate, etc.
• There is no organisation that supervises the credit activities of lenders in the informal sector. Compared to the formal lenders, most of the informal lenders charge much higher interest on loans. Thus, the cost to the borrower of informal loans is much higher. 
• A higher cost of borrowing means a larger part of the earnings of the borrowers is used to repay the loan. In certain cases, the high-interest rate of borrowing can mean that the amount to be repaid is greater than the income of the borrower.
•  This could lead to increasing debt and a debt trap. Also, people who might wish to start an enterprise by borrowing may not do so because of the high cost of borrowing.
  For these reasons, banks and cooperative societies need to lend more. 

• A typical SHG has 15-20 members, usually belonging to one neighbourhood, who meet and save regularly. Saving per member varies from Rs 25 to Rs 100 or more, depending on the ability of the people to save.
• Members can take small loans from the group itself to meet their needs.
• The group charges interest on these loans but this is still less than what the moneylender charges. After a year or two, if the group is regular in savings, it becomes eligible for availing loan from the bank.
• The loan is sanctioned in the name of the group and is meant to create self-employment opportunities for the members.
• Most of the important decisions regarding the savings and loan activities are taken by the group members. The group decides as regards the loans to be granted — the purpose, amount, interest to be charged, repayment schedule etc.
• Also, it is the group that is responsible for the repayment of the loan. Any case of non-repayment of the loan by any one member is followed up seriously by other members in the group.
• Because of this feature, banks are willing to lend to the poor women when organised in SHGs, even though they have no collateral as such.

Overcoming Collateral Issues: SHGs assist borrowers by alleviating the need for collateral. Members can access timely loans for various purposes at reasonable interest rates.

Empowering Rural Poor: SHGs serve as foundational structures for organizing the rural poor, particularly empowering women to achieve financial self-reliance.

Social Impact: Regular group meetings offer a platform for discussing and addressing social issues, such as health, nutrition, and domestic violence, fostering community development beyond financial support.

1. It helps borrowers to overcome the problem of lack of collateral.
2. People can get timely loans for a variety of purposes and at a reasonable interest rate.
3. SHGs are the building blocks of the organisation of the rural poor.
4. It helps women to become financially self-reliant.
5. The regular meetings of the group provide a platform to discuss and act on a variety of social issues such as health, nutrition, domestic violence, etc.

Summing Up