What is the role of liquidity in maintaining financial stability?
Liquidity is a key measure of how well financial markets are working. It refers to how easily assets can be bought or sold—and when it dries up, it can be disruptive.
Liquidity in Financial Crises
One type of liquidity risk is funding risk, which relates to the ease with which one can raise money by borrowing using an asset as collateral. Liquidity risk of this type has always played a key role in banking crises.
Liquidity of assets helps accelerate transactions
Stocks are an excellent example of liquid assets that can be easily traded on the stock exchange on any working day.
Liquidity refers to the efficiency or ease with which an asset or security can be converted into ready cash without affecting its market price. The most liquid asset of all is cash itself.
Liquidity provides financial flexibility. Having enough cash or easily tradable assets allows individuals and companies to respond quickly to unexpected expenses, emergencies or business opportunities. It allows them to balance their finances without being forced to sell long-term assets on unfavourable terms.
Although, studies have it that lack of adequate liquidity in a bank is often characterized by the inability to meet daily financial obligations. At time it may have the risk of losing deposits which erodes its supply of cash and thus forces the institution into disposal of its more liquid assets.
When the value of the liquidity ratio is high, the company has the ability to meet its short-term debt obligations. If the company is in a liquid condition, the company will automatically be able to overcome financial distress.
Liquidity is an objective of financial management because it shows the business how able it is to pay its current debts as they fall due. This allows the business to maintain a good credit rating, and avoid late fees and additional interest payments.
When investing in the financial markets, liquidity is an important factor to take into account. Simply put, liquidity is how easily an asset can be converted into cash without having a negative impact on its price.
- Peace of mind knowing that you can cover unplanned expenses.
- No need to take on high-cost debt.
- No need for the forced sale of assets in order to raise cash.
How does liquidity help build wealth?
Liquidity is important in investing to be able to access the wealth that you build. If your assets are all tied up in long-term investments or highly illiquid investments, you may find yourself cash-poor. This can significantly reduce your ability to direct funds into an investment opportunity that comes your way.
Liquidity can be an important component of investing because it can affect your ability to adjust your investment strategy if your outlook or goals change. Liquidity is particularly important if you have short-term cash flow needs such as regular withdrawals.
Poor liquidity, on the other hand, means a business is at higher risk of failing if suddenly faced with unexpected debt, for example, a costly machine repair or a large VAT bill. If the business is unable to convert enough assets to cash quickly to cover the debt it can push it into insolvency.
The liquidity of the company is affected by the financial risk. Moreover, external microeconomics variables including inflation rate, interest rate, exchange rate and unemployment rate, may affect profitability as well.
Unmanaged or poorly managed liquidity risk can lead to operational disruptions, financial losses, and reputational damage. In extreme cases, it can drive an entity towards insolvency or bankruptcy.
Liquidity decision refers to managing a company's current assets and liabilities. It is done to ensure sufficient cash or liquid assets to meet its short-term financial obligations. This decision involves determining the optimal level of liquidity that a company needs to maintain.
As liquidity management requires total visibility into financial data, it helps companies create more accurate scenario analysis and cash forecasting. Thus, it guides important financial decisions, such as whether to invest in expansion or new projects or whether a lender will approve a loan for your organization.
While liquidity focuses on a company's ability to meet near-term obligations, profitability examines how efficiently a company generates returns over time. Liquidity is vital for any company to continue operating, while profitability determines success in using resources to maximize income.
Specifically, stocks with high pre-crisis liquidity exposure that were held by institutional investors experienced significantly negative returns during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. The effects are particularly strong for firms in emerging markets.
The global financial crisis from 2007 resulted in a major liquidity crisis in the banking sector, threatening the solvency of many banks in Europe and the United States. The crisis had its roots in the collapse of the subprime mortgage market in the United States in 2007.
What is the cause of liquidity crisis?
A liquidity crisis occurs when a company or financial institution experiences a shortage of cash or liquid assets to meet its financial obligations. Liquidity crises can be caused by a variety of factors, including poor management decisions, a sudden loss of investor confidence, or an unexpected economic shock.
A liquidity trap is a major implication of recession and can have a devastating impact on the growth of an economy, if not solved immediately. While expansionary fiscal policies work in most cases, highly developed economies often face challenges in reviving its aggregate demand level in the event of liquidity traps.
A company experiencing a severe liquidity squeeze must be prepared to take all actions that will help ensure its survival. This means it must be able to sell or pledge liquid assets, increase short and long-term liabilities, decrease long-term assets, and defer non-essential cash flows.
A key factor for financial market liquidity has been the remarkable structural changes which have been taking place in financial markets. These have included the liberalisation of international capital flows, the securitisation of loans and the development of new financial products (e.g. credit derivatives).
When more liquidity is available at a lower cost to banks, people and businesses are more willing to borrow. This easing of financing conditions stimulates bank lending and boosts the economy.
References
- https://capital.com/liquidity-crisis-definition
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financial_plan.asp
- https://www.richmondfed.org/-/media/RichmondFedOrg/publications/research/special_reports/instruments_of_the_money_market/pdf/chapter_01.pdf
- https://prevailiws.com/why-is-liquidity-important-in-investing/
- https://site.financialmodelingprep.com/education/financial-ratios/liquidity-ratios/what-is-financial-liquidity-and-why-is-financial-liquidity-important
- https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/9780230508118_10.pdf
- https://quizlet.com/270568157/finc-210-chps-6-11-flash-cards/
- https://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/economy-s-two-important-financial-markets-investment-market-saving-market-bond-market-stoc-q82288395
- https://byjus.com/ias-questions/what-are-the-characteristics-of-the-financial-markets/
- https://www.ig.com/uk/trading-strategies/what-is-market-liquidity-and-why-is-it-important--190214
- https://byjus.com/commerce/liquidity-ratio/
- https://www.thestreet.com/dictionary/liquidity-market-liquidity
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/liquidityrisk.asp
- https://www.vintti.com/blog/liquidity-ratio-vs-profitability-ratio/
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/11/understanding-liquidity-risk.asp
- https://www.evelyn.com/insights-and-events/insights/a-spotlight-on-liquidity-money-moves-markets/
- https://fastercapital.com/content/Market-Impact--Quantifying-Market-Impact-and-Slippage-in-Trading.html
- https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/wealth-management/financial-system/
- https://quizlet.com/150463775/chapter-3-finance-flash-cards/
- https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/membership/professional-development/refresher-readings/firm-market-structures
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/liquidmarket.asp
- https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/052515/what-difference-between-banks-liquidity-and-its-liquid-assets.asp
- https://homework.study.com/explanation/is-any-form-of-wealth-used-to-produce-more-wealth.html
- https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/macroeconomics/economics-of-money/structure-of-financial-market/
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/technical/02/010702.asp
- https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/warsh20070305a.htm
- https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/educational/explainers/tell-me-more/html/excess_liquidity.en.html
- https://www.wallstreetmojo.com/functions-of-financial-markets/
- https://www.fisherinvestments.com/en-us/personal-wealth-management/your-financial-goals/preserve-your-wealth/liquidity
- https://www.degiro.com/uk/knowledge/investors-academy/beginners-lessons/liquidity
- https://www.morpher.com/blog/insufficient-liquidity-for-this-trade
- https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-are-the-goals-of-financial-management.html
- https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/bd7b424c-c293-462c-9ae2-990a72ab9e01/2018-hsc-business-studies-mg.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE-bd7b424c-c293-462c-9ae2-990a72ab9e01-nbDp1l7
- https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/entrepreneur-toolkit/templates-business-guides/glossary/liquidity
- https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/liquidity-management/content-section-4
- https://www.deskera.com/blog/liquidity/
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/liquidasset.asp
- https://www.fool.com/terms/l/liquidity/
- https://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD258.pdf
- https://ijbel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IJBEL22_205.pdf
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_liquidity
- https://www.advisor360.com/blog/seven-step-financial-planning-process-steps-2-4
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/economics-econometrics-and-finance/foreign-exchange-market
- https://ag.ny.gov/resources/individuals/investing-finance/how-financial-markets-work
- https://www.dallasfed.org/-/media/Documents/educate/lessons/Lesson5/bw05.pdf
- https://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/financial-markets-play-important-role-channeling-funds-savers-borrowers-following-illustra-q87595799
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/market.asp
- https://calendar.camosun.ca/preview_course_nopop.php?catoid=11&coid=18041
- https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234648159.pdf
- https://quizlet.com/491511067/business-management-1-flash-cards/
- https://www.franklintempletonindia.com/investor-education/new-to-investing/video/liquidity-meaning-importance-of-liquidity-in-financial-planning
- https://www.marcus.com/us/en/resources/saving/why-liquidity-is-important
- https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/confs/2008/pdf/davis.pdf
- https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-osintrobus/chapter/the-role-of-finance-and-the-financial-manager/
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/basics/07/liquidity.asp
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financialintermediary.asp
- https://groww.in/p/liquidity-trap
- https://37parallel.com/the-good-and-bad-of-financial-liquidity-for-real-estate-investors/
- https://www.motilaloswal.com/blog-details/what-is-market-liquidity-and-why-is-it-important/21931
- https://homework.study.com/explanation/why-is-too-much-liquidity-not-a-good-thing.html
- https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/liquidity
- https://coebank.org/en/investor-relations/risk-management/liquidity-risk/
- https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/what-is-liquidity
- https://study.com/learn/lesson/liquidity-risk-funding-examples.html
- https://www.forex.com/en/news-and-analysis/what-is-market-liquidity/
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financial-system.asp
- https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/accounting/liquidity.shtml
- https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/gfdr/gfdr-2016/background/financial-development
- https://byjus.com/question-answer/what-are-the-functions-of-a-financial-market-1/
- https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/documents/areas/fac/finance/fari.pdf
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_impact
- https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/commercial-lending/solvency-ratio/
- https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/financial-markets
- https://quizlet.com/gb/301000011/441-role-of-financial-markets-flash-cards/
- https://www.degiro.co.uk/knowledge/investors-academy/beginners-lessons/liquidity
- https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/pros-and-cons-liquidity
- https://online.mason.wm.edu/blog/four-types-of-financial-statements
- https://squareup.com/gb/en/townsquare/what-is-liquidity
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID3933685_code4849381.pdf?abstractid=3933685&mirid=1
- https://quickbooks.intuit.com/in/resources/accounting/understanding-liquidity-ratio-analysis/
- https://gocardless.com/en-us/guides/posts/what-is-a-liquidity-ratio/
- https://homework.study.com/explanation/what-is-a-disadvantage-of-maintaining-a-very-high-level-of-liquidity.html
- https://www.fdic.gov/resources/consumers/other-regulators.html
- https://www.shiksha.com/online-courses/articles/understanding-finance-functions/
- https://www.idfcfirstbank.com/finfirst-blogs/finance/difference-between-money-finance-funds
- https://www.xero.com/us/glossary/liquidity/
- https://www.tutor2u.net/economics/reference/4-4-1-roles-of-financial-markets-edexcel-a-level-economics-teaching-powerpoint
- https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/explainers/what-are-financial-markets-and-why-are-they-important
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/liquidityratios.asp
- https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/financial-stability/fsr/focus/2007/pdf/ecb~cc3931849f.fsrbox200706_09.pdf
- https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/financial-stability/fsr/special/html/ecb.fsrart202305_01~830184261b.en.html
- https://tipalti.com/financial-operations-hub/liquidity-ratio/
- https://blog.chain.link/liquidity-indicators/
- https://www.factris.com/en/news/why-is-liquidity-important/
- https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/accounting/liquidity-ratio/
- https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/macroeconomics/financial-sector/financial-markets/
- https://www.freshbooks.com/hub/accounting/good-liquidity-ratio
- https://byjus.com/question-answer/which-of-the-following-is-a-function-of-financial-markets-facilitate-price-discovery-provide-liquidity/
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/illiquid.asp
- https://www.risk.net/definition/market-impact
- https://byjus.com/ias-questions/what-are-the-two-main-types-of-financial-markets/
- https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/3-financial-statements-to-measure-companys-strength
- https://www.forex.com/en-us/news-and-analysis/what-is-market-liquidity/
- https://www.thebalancemoney.com/liquidity-position-analysis-with-ratios-393233
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_services
- https://www.icmagroup.org/assets/documents/Regulatory/Secondary-markets/Bond-Market-Liquidity-Library/Tian-Y---2009---Market-Liquidity-Risk-and-Market-Risk-Measurement-290118.pdf
- https://www.cflowapps.com/functions-of-accounting/
- https://byjus.com/question-answer/what-are-two-measures-of-liquidity/
- https://byjus.com/ias-questions/what-are-the-5-roles-of-financial-markets/
- https://www.empower.com/the-currency/money/what-liquidity-and-how-do-you-measure-it
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/270126/largest-stock-exchange-operators-by-market-capitalization-of-listed-companies/
- https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/epr/03v09n3/0309flem/0309flem.html
- https://byjus.com/ias-questions/what-are-the-4-types-of-financial-markets/
- https://www.smallcase.com/learn/what-is-primary-market/
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/liquidity.asp
- https://precoro.com/blog/liquidity-management/
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cmv.asp
- https://www.occ.treas.gov/topics/supervision-and-examination/capital-markets/financial-markets/index-financial-markets.html