Idea Transcript
N EW
Topics
Reference
Advisors
Markets
Simulator
Academy
Search News, Symbols, Terms
Deposit Multiplier + SUBSCRIBE SHARE
You May Also Like: Learn Excel for Finance with Investopedia’s new online course. Buy Now >>
What is a 'Deposit Multiplier'
The deposit multiplier, also referred to as the deposit expansion multiplier, is a function used to describe the amount of money a bank creates in additional money supply through the process of lending the available capital it has in excess of the bank's reserve requirement. The term "multiplier" refers to the fact that the change in checkable deposits that results from the bank lending money to borrowers is a multiple of any change in the bank's level of reserves. The deposit multiplier is thus inextricably tied to the bank's reserve requirement. Calculated as:
BREAKING DOWN 'Deposit Multiplier'
Trading Center
Central banks such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States establish minimum (required reserve) amounts of money that a bank must continually maintain in an account at the central bank in order to ensure that the bank has sufficient cash to meet any withdrawal requests from its depositors. For example, if the required reserve ratio is 20%, this means that for every $5 deposited with a bank, the bank must hold $1 in its required reserve account. In reference to the excess capital the bank has available above the required reserve amount to lend to borrowers, the bank's deposit multiplier in this example is five. The deposit multiplier is sometimes expressed as the deposit multiplier ratio, which is always the inverse of the required reserve ratio. If the required reserve ratio is 20%, the deposit multiplier ratio is 80%.
The Deposit Multiplier and Money Creation
The deposit multiplier is all about a bank's ability to expand the money supply. The multiplier reflects the level of money creation that is enabled by means of the fractional-reserve banking system that only requires banks to hold a percentage of their total checkable deposits amount in reserve. The banks are then free to create a larger amount of checkable deposits by loaning out a multiple of their required reserves. The deposit multiplier is frequently confused, or thought to be synonymous, with the money multiplier. However, although the two terms are closely related, they are not interchangeable. If banks loaned out all available capital beyond their required reserves, and if borrowers spent every dollar borrowed from banks, then the deposit multiplier and the money multiplier would be essentially the same. In actual practice, the money multiplier, which designates the actual multiplied change in a nation's money supply created by loan capital beyond bank's reserves, is always less than the deposit multiplier, which can be seen as the maximum potential money creation through the multiplied effect of bank lending. The reasons for the differential between the deposit multiplier and the money multiplier start with the fact that banks do not lend out all of their available loan capital but instead commonly maintain reserves at a level above the minimum required reserve. Additionally, all borrowers do not spend every dollar borrowed. Borrowers often devote some borrowed funds to savings or other deposit accounts, thus reducing the amount of money creation and the money multiplier figure.
Binary Options Center
SPONSORED
Investors looking for short-term trading opportunities but wary of risk have a new choice Learn More
Compare Popular Online Brokers
Advertiser Disclosure
Provider
Name
Description
Multiplier Effect + SUBSCRIBE SHARE
The multiplier effect is the expansion of a Video Definition country's money supply that results from banks being able to lend. The size of the Loading the player... multiplier effect depends on the percentage of deposits that banks are required to hold as reserves. In other words, it is the money used to create more money and is calculated by dividing total bank deposits by the reserve requirement.
BREAKING DOWN 'Multiplier Effect'
To calculate the effect of the multiplier effect on the money supply, start with the amount banks initially take in through deposits, and divide this by the reserve ratio. If, for example, the reserve requirement is 20%, for every $100 a customer deposits into a bank, $20 must be kept in reserve. However, the remaining $80 can be loaned out to other bank customers. This $80 is then deposited by these customers into another bank, which in turn must also keep 20%, or $16, in reserve but can lend out the remaining $64. This cycle continues as more people deposit money and more banks continue lending it until finally the $100 initially deposited creates a total of $500 ($100/0.2) in deposits. This creation of deposits is the multiplier effect. Read More +
Search Investopedia
DICTIONARY: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
CONTENT LIBRARY Articles
Terms
Stock Analysis
Videos
CONNECT WITH INVESTOPEDIA Guides
Stock Simulator
Slideshows
FAQs
Exam Prep Quizzer
Calculators
Chart Advisor
Net Worth Calculator
WORK WITH INVESTOPEDIA About Us
Advertise With Us
Contact Us
GET FREE NEWSLETTERS Careers
© 2018, Investopedia, LLC. All Rights Reserved Terms Of Use Privacy Policy
Newsletters
How I Explain Binary Options to My Friend SPONSORED BY NADEX