The main functions of the central bank of the Russian Federation. What is the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, definition, meaning, functions

The Central Bank is the main link in the credit system;

A commercial bank is the main link in the credit system.

In Russia, the Central Bank was created in 1860. The first central banks appeared in the world much earlier. The first central bank was created in Sweden - the Riksbank - in 1668. One of the first was the Bank of England - 1694.

Unlike the Bank of England, which was created from below (it grew out of the general system of banks), in Russia the Central Bank was created from above. At the same time, the Central Bank of Russia has always been subordinate to the Ministry of Finance (except for the 20s). In general, the separation of a central bank from the total number of banks means the beginning of the formation of a two-tier banking system.

The main distinguishing features of the Central Bank from commercial banks:

The Central Bank does not set itself the goal of maximizing profits, which is the goal of commercial banks.

Central banks are usually government-owned, centralized institutions, while commercial banks are usually private or joint-stock banks.

Central bank managers are more closely connected with the work of government bodies than their bank colleagues.

Central banks perform the function of managing the activities of commercial banks, a legislative function, i.e. issue the necessary instructions and other materials regulating the activities of the k/b.

The Central Bank can influence the activities of banks and other credit institutions, especially in relation to lending. This function is implemented, as a rule, in the process of varying, changing the discount rate, as well as when establishing maximum norms for required reserves.

Central banks perform the issuing function and control the issue and withdrawal of money from circulation.

Central banks do not compete in business with commercial banks, but usually maintain government bank accounts.

Central banks play the role of lenders of last resort in relation to other banks, for which they use various methods of economic influence on banks:

open market operations;

change in the official discount rate of the Central Bank;

conducting operations with deposits;

establishing the norm of required reserves, etc.

Central banks do not perform all the functions and operations of banks, for example, they do not serve clients (with the exception of the State Bank of the USSR, the Bank of England - for employees, the Bank of France).

In modern banking systems, the Central Bank occupies a special place. It is a state body. regulation of the economy, vested with the right to monopoly issue banknotes, regulate money circulation, and credit relations of the country. The Central Bank stores the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves. The Central Bank exercises leadership and control over the entire credit system, is a bank of banks, stores temporarily free funds of the government, budget, and other authorities. authorities, required reserves of commercial banks. In general, central banks tend to be state-owned. Sometimes they do not formally belong to the state (the Federal Reserve is a joint-stock company, the Swiss National Bank), or the state owns only part of the capital (in Japan), in any case, all central banks pursue the policy of the state and operate as a state. organs.

An important characteristic of the activities of Central Banks is the degree of their autonomy and independence. A significant degree of independence of the Central Bank from the government is a necessary condition for the bank’s effective activities in maintaining monetary and exchange rate stability. At the same time, the independence of the Central Bank from the government is relative, because The economic policy of the state cannot be successfully implemented without its clear coordination and close coordination with the monetary and financial policies of the Central Bank. Therefore, in the long term, the Central Bank's policy is directly determined by the priorities of the government's macroeconomic course. According to the law of the Russian Federation, the Central Bank of Russia is not subordinate to the government.

Main functions of the Central Bank of Russia:

In accordance with the Law “On the Central Bank”, the Bank of Russia performs the following functions:

accumulation of funds households;

placement of funds;

organization of money circulation and emission activities;

monetary regulation;

organization and implementation of cash payments in cash and by non-cash transfers;

settlement and cash execution of the state. budget;

foreign economic functions;

regulation of the activities of banks and other credit institutions;

supervision over the activities of banks.

1. The Central Bank accumulates funds located in bank accounts, funds belonging to the state and located in state accounts. budget in banks; all types of tax transfers to the budget; funds from various foundations, public organizations, associations; CBR's own funds.

2. The Central Bank provides loans to banks and the government to temporarily cover state budget expenses; invests funds in securities, and primarily in government securities. government loans.

The Central Bank organizes the circulation of banknotes in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation, organizes the production of banknotes, establishes rules for the transportation, storage, collection of banknotes, creates reserves, establishes signs of solvency of banknotes, implements rules for the replacement and destruction of damaged banknotes. As an issuing center, the Central Bank operates on the basis of the law “On the monetary system of the Russian Federation”.

Monetary regulation at the macro level consists of pursuing a unified monetary policy. In a normally developing economy, monetary regulation ensures the expansion of loans and an increase in the money supply (in circulation and in bank accounts). Monetary regulation for shorter periods involves curbing inflation by determining the norms of required reserves, discount rates on loans, establishing economic standards for banks, and conducting transactions with securities and currency.

Monetary policy instruments of the Central Bank of Russia:

discount interest rate;

open market transactions with securities;

establishing economic standards for banks.

The Central Bank organizes and carries out settlements between:

to/banks;

enterprises, organizations, institutions through banks;

enterprises, organizations on the one hand, and the state on the other.

state and population;

between states.

To carry out settlements, RCCs have been organized, which are connected by a unified settlement system (MFI - inter-branch turnover). The Central Bank establishes uniform rules for conducting settlements, mandatory for all economic entities.

The Law “On the Central Bank” states that the Bank of Russia performs the function of a depository and fiscal agent of the government for cash execution of the budget and for servicing the state. debt, including the implementation of operations to place government. loans, their repayment and payment of interest on them. In general, this function consists in the fact that the Bank of Russia accumulates funds received by the state budget and places them on behalf of the Ministry of Finance. In necessary cases, the Central Bank provides a loan to the Ministry of Finance: to cover intra-annual gaps between current budget revenues and expenses. State The Duma sets a debt limit on these loans. As part of this loan, the Central Bank can purchase securities from the Ministry of Finance for a period of up to 6 months.

There are the following foreign economic functions of the Central Bank:

regulation of the ruble exchange rate;

management of official gold and foreign exchange reserves;

carrying out operations to place these reserves either independently or through banks authorized by it;

issuing a license for commercial banks to conduct foreign currency transactions in Russia and abroad;

issuing licenses to open foreign representative offices. banks and other credit institutions in Russia;

The Central Bank represents Russia's interests to the center. banks of other countries and international financial and credit institutions.

In general, the Central Bank has the right to carry out any operations in foreign currency in Russia and abroad in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation and international banking practice.

The activities of banks are regulated in accordance with the Law “On Banks and Banking Activities”. Central bank:

Issues or revokes licenses to conduct transactions;

Registers bank charters;

Maintains a book of registration of banks on the territory of the Russian Federation;

Establishes economic standards (the minimum size of the capital, the maximum ratio of the amount of capital and the amount of assets weighted taking into account the degree of risk, balance sheet liquidity, the minimum amount of required reserves, the maximum amount of risk per borrower, limiting the amount of currency and exchange rate risks, etc.);

The Central Bank determines the rules for the operation of banks, establishes the same accounting rules. accounting, stat. reporting, sets deadlines for reporting, supervises compliance with economic standards and monitors the correct application of legislative acts.

The main functions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation include:

monopoly issue of cash and organization of its circulation

function of financial agent, banker of the Government

financing of credit and banking institutions (“bank of banks”)

monetary regulation and banking supervision

Let's take a closer look at each of the functions.

1) Issue of banknotes and organization of their circulation. The Bank of Russia, as a representative of the state, is legally enshrined in issuing cash, organizing its circulation and withdrawal from circulation on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The Board of Directors decides on the release of new banknotes and coins into circulation and the withdrawal of old ones, and approves the denominations and samples of new banknotes.

In order to organize cash circulation on the territory of the Russian Federation, the Bank of Russia is entrusted with the following functions: forecasting and organizing production, transportation and storage of banknotes and coins, creating their reserve funds; establishing rules for the storage, transportation and collection of cash for credit institutions; establishing signs of solvency of banknotes and the procedure for replacing damaged banknotes and coins, as well as their destruction; determination of the procedure for conducting cash transactions.

2) Function of a financial agent, banker of the Government. Being, by its status, a financial agent of the Government, the Central Bank carries out operations on the placement and repayment of public debt, cash execution of the budget, maintaining current accounts of the Government, supervision of the storage, issue and withdrawal from circulation of coins and treasury notes, as well as the transfer of foreign currency funds when making government payments with other countries.

The important role of the Central Bank in solving problems such as providing loans to cover government expenditures and state budget deficits corresponds to its function as a creditor to the state. The main form of government borrowing used to finance government expenditures and the state budget is government loans.

Government loans are used to cover the state's budget deficits through the accumulation of temporarily free funds of individuals and legal entities. They are provided for a certain period on the terms of payment of income and are issued by certifying promissory notes in paper or paperless form.

Acting as a financial agent of the Government, the Central Bank carries out cash execution of the budget, receipt, storage and issuance of state budget funds, maintaining records and reporting. The cash execution of the budget is based on the principle of cash unity, that is, all mobilized state revenues are sent to a single account of the Ministry of Finance in the Central Bank, from which funds are drawn for public expenditures, thus, the Central Bank acts as the cashier of the Government.

The unity of the cash desk provides the Ministry of Finance with the opportunity to exercise constant control over the receipt of funds into its account and the movement of cash; ensures the centralization of state budget funds and balancing of income and expenses of each of the budgets (federal, regional, local), which together form the country's budget system; allows you to carry out operations for cash execution of the budget throughout the country. The implementation of cash execution by the central bank makes it possible to separate the functions of managing budget funds and managing loans, which are performed by financial authorities, from the functions of receiving, issuing, and storing these funds, which are within the competence of the Central Bank. As a result, the necessary conditions are created for control over the targeted use of budget funds.

3) Financing of credit and banking institutions (“bank of banks”). Refinancing commercial banks - providing them with loans in cases where they are experiencing temporary financial difficulties. The purpose of refinancing is to influence the state of the monetary sector. Carrying out the refinancing function, the Central Bank acts as a bank of banks.

Refinancing loans are provided only to stable banks experiencing temporary financial difficulties and vary depending on the form of collateral (discount and pawn loans); methods of provision (direct loans and loans provided on the basis of auctions); terms of provision (medium-term - for 3-4 months and short-term - for 1 day or several days); targeted (corrective loans and extended seasonal loans).

4) The function of monetary regulation and banking supervision of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

The monetary policy of the Central Bank is a set of measures aimed at changing the money supply in circulation, the volume of loans, the level of interest rates and other indicators of money circulation and the loan capital market. Its goal is to regulate the economy by influencing the state of the total money turnover; it includes the cash money supply in circulation and non-cash money in bank accounts.

The Central Bank's monetary policy is aimed either at stimulating monetary emission - credit expansion (revitalization of the market situation in the context of falling production), or at limiting monetary emission during periods of economic upswing - credit restriction (Keynes's economic theory).

When carrying out monetary policy, the Central Bank uses a set of instruments that differ: in the form of their impact (direct and indirect); by objects of influence (supply of money and demand for money); by the nature of the parameters established during regulation (quantitative and qualitative).

All these methods are used in a single system.

The main instruments of the Central Bank's monetary policy are:

• - changes in the norms of required reserves placed by commercial banks with the Central Bank;
• - regulation of the official discount rate;
• - conducting transactions with securities and foreign currency.

Determining the priority of monetary policy instruments depends on the goals that the Central Bank solves at a particular stage of the country’s development.

Changes in required reserve norms. In accordance with Instruction No. 1 “On the procedure for regulating the activities of commercial banks” and the Instruction on the procedure for the formation of centralized funds of the Russian banking system from contributions from commercial banks, the Central Bank creates a reserve fund of the credit system of the Russian Federation, the funds of which are formed by reserving in it a certain share of those attracted by commercial banks funds from third party organizations that are used as credit resources.

The required reserve fund is a mandatory norm of deposits of commercial banks in the Central Bank, established by law and defined as a percentage of the total amount of deposits of commercial banks. It was created in order to, if necessary, ensure that commercial banks can timely fulfill their obligations to clients to return previously raised funds due to the fact that part of these funds is deposited and is not used by banks as credit resources.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation, by changing the norms of required reserves, influences the credit policy of commercial banks and the state of the money supply in circulation. As a result of increasing the required reserve ratio, the Central Bank reduces the amount of free funds at the disposal of commercial banks and used to expand active operations; a decrease in the reserve ratio allows commercial banks to more fully use the credit resources they have generated, that is, to increase credit investments in the national economy.

Discount rate. Among the instruments for regulating the monetary sphere by Central Banks, a special place belongs to the discount rate, which is an operational instrument of state influence on the loan capital market (and, depending on its condition, can change throughout the year). In conditions of market relations, centralized regulation of the level of the discount rate gives a certain direction to the movement of credit horizontally (bank - borrower) and vertically (Central Bank - commercial bank). The official discount rate serves as a benchmark for market interest rates; its change in loans provided by the Central Bank, increasing or decreasing the supply of credit resources, thereby regulates the demand for them.

The discount rate determines the rates charged by commercial banks on their loans and the interest rates paid to depositors on deposits and other accounts. Increasing (for anti-inflationary purposes) the discount rate, that is, the “dear money” policy, limits the opportunity for commercial banks to obtain a loan from the Central Bank and at the same time increases the price of money provided on credit by commercial banks. As a result, credit investments in the economy are reduced and, consequently, further production growth is inhibited. The policy of lowering the discount rate, the policy of “cheap money,” on the contrary, acts as a factor in expanding credit operations and accelerating the pace of economic development.

Since almost all banks resort to loans from the Central Bank to one degree or another, the influence of the rates it sets extends to the entire economy.

Transactions with securities and foreign currency. Open market operations are the purchase and sale at a predetermined exchange rate of securities, including government securities, which form the country’s debt. This is considered the most flexible method of regulating credit investments and liquidity of commercial banks.

The Central Bank's open market operations have a direct impact on the amount of free resources available to commercial banks, which stimulates either a reduction or expansion of credit investments in the economy, while simultaneously affecting the liquidity of banks (reducing or increasing it, respectively). This influence is carried out by the Central Bank changing the purchase price from commercial banks or selling securities to them.

With a strict restriction policy aimed at the outflow of credit resources from the money market, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation reduces the purchase price, thereby increasing or decreasing its deviation from the market rate.

Open market transactions vary depending on: the terms of the transaction (purchase and sale for cash or purchase for a period with mandatory resale; reverse transactions); objects of transactions (transactions with government or private securities); urgency of the transaction (short-term up to 3 months, long-term up to 1 year or more transactions with securities); areas of operations (only in the banking sector of the securities market or in the non-banking sector of the market); the method of setting rates (determined either by the central bank or the market).

When carrying out monetary policy, the Bank of Russia has the right to carry out the following operations with Russian and foreign credit organizations:

provide loans for a period of no more than one year secured by securities and other assets, unless otherwise established by the federal law on the federal budget;

buy and sell checks, promissory notes and bills of exchange, usually of commercial origin, with maturities of no more than six months;

buy and sell government securities on the open market;

buy and sell bonds, certificates of deposit and other securities with maturities of no more than one year;

buy and sell foreign currency, as well as payment documents and obligations in foreign currency issued by Russian and foreign credit organizations;

buy, store, sell precious metals and other types of currency assets;

carry out settlement, cash and deposit operations, accept securities and other valuables for storage and management;

issue guarantees and warranties;

carry out transactions with financial instruments used to manage financial risks;

open accounts in Russian and foreign credit institutions on the territory of the Russian Federation and foreign countries.

Collateral for Bank of Russia loans can be: gold and other precious metals in various forms; foreign currency; bills in Russian and foreign currency with maturities of up to six months; government securities.

Conducting monetary policy

The Bank of Russia represents the interests of the Russian Federation in relations with central banks of foreign countries, as well as in international banks and other international monetary and financial organizations.

The Central Bank is the conductor of the state foreign exchange policy, which includes a set of measures aimed at strengthening the country’s foreign economic position and carries out this function in accordance with the Law of the Russian Federation “On Currency Regulation and Currency Control” and federal laws.

On behalf of the government, the Central Bank regulates foreign currency and gold reserves and is the traditional custodian of state gold and foreign exchange reserves. It regulates international payments, balances of payments, and participates in the operations of the world market for loan capital and gold. The Central Bank, as a rule, provides its country with international and regional monetary organizations.

To carry out its functions, the Bank of Russia may open representative offices in foreign countries.

Regulation of the activities of credit institutions

The Bank of Russia is the body for banking regulation and supervision of the activities of credit institutions.

Regulation of credit institutions is a system of measures by which the state, through the Central Bank, ensures the stable and safe functioning of banks and prevents destabilizing processes in the banking sector.

Control over the activities of banks is carried out in order to ensure the stability of individual banks and provides for holistic and continuous supervision over the bank’s activities in accordance with current legislation.

The main goal of banking regulation and supervision is to maintain the stability of the banking system and protect the interests of depositors and creditors. The Bank of Russia does not interfere in the operational activities of credit institutions, except in cases provided for by federal laws.

When exercising the function of supervision and control over the activities of commercial banks, the Bank of Russia:

• - establishes mandatory rules for credit institutions for conducting banking operations, maintaining accounting records, drawing up and presenting accounting and statistical reporting.
• - registers credit organizations in the Book of State Registration of Credit Institutions, issues licenses to credit organizations to carry out banking operations and revokes them.

In order to ensure the stability of credit institutions, the Bank of Russia may establish mandatory standards for them:

the minimum amount of authorized capital for newly created credit institutions, the minimum amount of own funds (capital) for existing credit institutions;

the maximum size of the non-monetary part of the authorized capital;

the maximum amount of risk per borrower or group of related borrowers;

maximum size of large credit risks;

maximum risk per creditor (depositor);

liquidity standards of a credit institution;

capital adequacy standards;

the maximum amount of attracted monetary contributions (deposits) from the population;

the size of currency, interest and other risks;

the minimum amount of reserves created for high-risk assets;

standards for using banks' own funds to acquire shares (shares) of other legal entities;

the maximum amount of loans, guarantees and guarantees provided by the bank to its participants (shareholders).

To carry out its functions in the field of banking supervision and regulation, the Central Bank conducts inspections of credit institutions and their branches, sends them binding orders to eliminate violations identified in their activities and applies sanctions provided by law in relation to violators.

If a credit organization violates federal laws, regulations and instructions of the Bank of Russia, fails to provide information, provides incomplete or unreliable information, the Central Bank has the right to demand that the credit organization eliminate the identified violations, impose a fine in the amount of up to one tenth of a percent of the minimum authorized capital, or limit the conduct of individual transactions for up to six months.

In the event of failure to comply with orders to eliminate violations within the prescribed period, as well as in the event that these violations or operations performed by the credit institution created a real threat to the interests of creditors (depositors), the Bank of Russia has the right:

collect from the credit institution a fine of up to 1 percent of the paid-up authorized capital, but not more than 1 percent of the minimum authorized capital;

demand from the credit institution:

• a) implementation of measures for the financial rehabilitation of the credit organization, including changes in the structure of assets;
• b) replacement of managers of a credit institution;
• c) reorganization of a credit organization;

change mandatory standards for a credit institution for a period of up to six months;

introduce a ban on a credit institution carrying out certain banking operations provided for by the issued license for a period of up to one year, as well as on opening branches for a period of up to one year;

appoint a temporary administration to manage the credit institution for a period of up to 18 months;

revoke the license to carry out banking operations in the manner prescribed by federal laws.

The central bank carries out its functions through banking operations - passive and active.

Moscow State Correspondence Institute of Food Industry

Department of Accounting and Finance

Test

By finance, money circulation and credit

4th year students of the faculty

"Economics and Entrepreneurship"

specialty "Commerce", code 359-EK-95,

Pankratieva Ekaterina Olegovna

Subject:

Functions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation

1. The concept of the credit system.

2. The role and tasks of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia) is a legal entity and has its own charter approved by the State Duma. The Bank of Russia is an independent institution that carries out its expenses from its own income. It is the only bank in Russia authorized to issue cash. Acts as the main coordinating and regulating body of the country's monetary system. Is owned by the Russian Federation.

Functions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation plays the role of the main coordinating and regulating body of the Russian monetary system. One of the main goals of its activities is to ensure efficient and stable operation of the entire banking system. In this regard, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is entrusted with a number of functions:

Development and implementation of monetary policy;

Regulation of money circulation;

Regulating the activities of credit institutions and exercising control over them;

Implementation of non-cash payments on a nationwide scale;

Organization of currency regulation;

Storage of the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves.

To carry them out, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation uses the following tools and methods:

Establishment of rules regulating the activities of credit institutions;

Supervising the activities of credit institutions;

Establishing and monitoring compliance with mandatory economic standards by credit institutions;

Establishment of reserve requirements;

Refinancing of credit institutions;

Carrying out a discount policy;

Conducting open market operations;

Carrying out currency interventions. To maintain the reliability of the banking system, the Central Bank actively uses all of the above tools.

Work is constantly being carried out to improve the rules of accounting and reporting, the main goal of this step is to bring Russian reporting closer to international standards, increase the information content, unambiguous interpretation of individual accounting transactions and, as a result, the adequacy of the operations actually carried out by the bank with their reflection in the reporting. Unfortunately, the large differences in the functioning of the economic mechanism of Russia and the developed industrial countries of the West do not allow the full use of foreign experience in reporting, since this significantly reduces the quality of analysis and control over the financial condition of Russian banks.

Much attention is paid to newly created banks. The conditions for their licensing, requirements for the size of the authorized capital, the procedure for operating in the financial market, and the rights and obligations of a newly created credit organization are constantly becoming more stringent.

In order to ensure economic conditions for the sustainable functioning of the banking system and protect the interests of depositors and creditors, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation has established mandatory economic standards for the activities of credit institutions. These include: capital adequacy standards, liquidity standards of a credit institution, maximum risk levels and a number of other standards. Failure of a credit institution to comply with certain standards entails the imposition of penalties up to and including revocation of its license.

In order to improve supervision and focus it, first of all, on identifying problems that could complicate the financial position of banks in the future, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation has developed recommendations for determining criteria for the degree of problem of banks. These criteria are used by divisions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation when conducting supervisory inspections and developing enforcement measures applied to banks depending on the degree of their problem, when making decisions on the reorganization of banks or their liquidation.

The establishment of reserve requirements has two goals: regulation of the level of money supply and partial insurance of funds attracted by banks. For investors, such insurance serves as an additional guarantee of investment security. However, firstly, it leads to a significant decrease in the profitability of deposits (since interest is not accrued on mandatory reserves, banks reduce the interest rate on attracted resources). Secondly, the mandatory reserve mechanism has not been fully developed, and as a result, it is almost impossible for banks to use their reserves in critical situations to correct them.

Bank refinancing refers to lending to banks by the Central Bank. The provision of credit resources is carried out in the form of direct and pawnshop loans, rediscounting of bills and credit auctions. Refinancing is carried out in cases where credit institutions are experiencing difficulties and are unable to attract the required amount of credit resources from other sources in a short time. That is, the Central Bank acts as a lender of last resort. Loans are issued, as a rule, for short periods and at high interest rates and are fully secured by collateral.

The refinancing rate has recently become more formal. To an ever lesser extent, it determines the interest rate policy of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and increasingly the amount of penalties for banks.

In connection with the ongoing crisis in the foreign exchange market and the interbank loan market, the underdevelopment of the stock market, conducting operations on the open market through the purchase and sale of government securities is of particular importance for maintaining the liquidity of the banking system and individual banks. Of all the liabilities traded on the market, government securities are the most liquid (taking into account the volume of liabilities that an individual financial market participant can hold). It was the operational work of the Central Bank on the open market that softened the impact of the crisis on a number of banks in August 1995, when within a few days commercial banks sold government securities worth 1.6 trillion in secondary trading. rubles

And due to the decrease in the volume of transactions in the foreign exchange market, the impact of individual foreign exchange interventions on the state of the banking system does not have a significant impact. In general, the strict foreign exchange policy pursued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the Government over recent years has led to a significant reduction in the share of speculative foreign exchange transactions from the total volume carried out by banks.

The role of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation

As you know, central banks arise when there is an economic need for them, and their creation was an outstanding historical discovery, because they make it possible to solve at least one, but very complex, economic problem. The fact is that market relations are spontaneous in nature. This leads to the fact that the more developed capitalist-market relations become, the stronger and, therefore, more destructive their spontaneous nature turns out to be. At a certain stage in the development of civilization, society begins to understand the need to limit the specified spontaneous beginning of the market, to minimize the associated economic losses that are borne by all market participants - producers, consumers, and intermediaries.

This task is truly complex: on the one hand, it is necessary to preserve freedom of enterprise and disposal of private funds; on the other hand, to limit, as far as possible, the spontaneously destructive principle inherent in the market, to save society and its specific members from unjustified losses (one might even say that the task is to preserve its “good” qualities in the market and, if possible, neutralize the “bad” ones) " - a task that has long been the subject of ridicule, but is quite correct for the conditions of the 20th century). The second part of this problem is solved with the help of public control of the main parameters of the market and targeted influence on them, i.e. socially organized regulation. In the banking sector, the functions of such a regulator of market relations are entrusted to a state institution such as the central bank.

In a market economy or transition to it, state regulation of economic activity should pursue three main goals:

creation (maintenance) of general conditions for the civilized functioning of the market and the entire national economy;

strategic planning of science and scientific and technological progress;

solving macroeconomic problems. As a body, the state central bank, in relation to its area, must participate in achieving all three goals, for which, in particular, it is obliged to:

maintain law and order in the financial sector, force participants in monetary relations to fulfill the agreements they have concluded, prevent disputes or resolve them if they arise;

issue money, ensure correct monetary circulation in the country, determine standards and procedures for conducting settlements and payments;

carry out or organize the implementation of works of general significance for the monetary sector (creating infrastructure, ensuring the reliability and security of the banking system, etc.);

to achieve stability of the monetary unit and prices, taking into account other macroeconomic objectives (ensuring optimal volumes of national production, the pace and quality of economic growth, employment levels, etc.).

The implementation of the above and some other goals and objectives is a necessary condition for the normal functioning and development of each bank (credit institution) and their community. And no one except the central bank, acting together with other government bodies, is capable of achieving these goals and solving problems. Therefore, commercial banks (credit institutions) are right when they expect the government and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to provide acceptable general conditions for their activities.

The absence of such general conditions may have several explanations.

Firstly, they might not have had time to be created yet. In our case, this reason is partially true. At the same time, dynamics and trends are important here. It is such that in a number of areas, depending primarily on the government, and then on the Central Bank RF, There has been no progress in creating such conditions for 4-5 years. This concerns primarily the state of the national economy as a whole and the state of the national currency based on it, as well as the state of law and order in the country.

Secondly, the situation can be explained by the inability of the authorities to get down to business and create these conditions, at least to the extent that this is objectively possible at the moment. There is no doubt that this reason is partially at work.

Thirdly, this may reflect the influence of the orientation of the authorities and some of the entrepreneurs themselves on the creation of a wild market, unregulated by civilized means, one that spontaneously developed throughout the world for millennia until the beginning of the 20th century. It should be noted with regret that such an orientation is quite strong in modern Russian society. Moreover, this policy is definitely and consistently implemented by the government.

It should only be noted that within the framework of this approach, the very need to have and improve the Central Bank of the Russian Federation as such is no longer obvious. The primitive-wild market does not accept and does not need either socially organized regulation in general, or a central bank in particular. Therefore, we must clearly understand: if just such a market is being cultivated in Russia, and, based on such a deliberately chosen course, the state, represented by the government, voluntarily removed itself from regulating the economy, then the next, in its own way logical, step in this direction should be the liquidation TSB RF. If not, then, along with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, other bodies of state power and administration should again be called upon to regulate the economy.

Fourthly, one should also keep in mind such a reason as the Central Bank of the Russian Federation’s inadequate understanding of the goals of its activities, its associated enormous responsibility not only to the banking community, but also to the entire economy, the entire society, the need to more actively defend the right to its own position, to protect the interests not even of banks as such, but of banking, the interests of the health of the country’s monetary system. For example, the practical steps of the Bank of Russia recently do not provide grounds to unequivocally assert that it is fully aware of its responsibility for the actual strengthening of the ruble and for the sustainable development of the national banking system.

Finally, fifthly, it is necessary to take into account another possible reason - the lack of independence of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. In our conditions, this is a fairly real reason, and also traditional for Russia. At the same time, the modern Bank of Russia is characterized by a lesser degree of independence than is assigned to it in the Law.

This means that the Central Bank system RF, which should be the financial branch of government, along with its legislative, executive and judicial branches, is in fact placed under the power of the government and the presidential apparatus, and behind the scenes, since such a relationship between them is not provided for by law (the government’s power over the central bank can even be considered a normal phenomenon, if that is the law).

This also means that the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in today's circumstances is constrained, on the one hand, in terms of its own protection in relations with the executive branch; on the other hand, in terms of expressing and defending the legitimate and long-term interests of the sphere “under his jurisdiction” as a whole and the individual organizations that make it up.

In the already mentioned study by a group of authors, “Strategy for the Development of the Russian Banking System,” it is noted: “The independent status of the Central Bank in the public administration system remains still a declaration that has not been embodied in the actions of the Central Bank... Rather, the Central Bank demonstrates independence in relation to the lower level of the system... The consolidating role of the Bank of Russia is weakly manifested...

The natural disunity and often contradictory interests of commercial banks, resulting from the competitive principles of their activities, does not eliminate their common interest in the stability of the banking system as a whole. However, the current monetary policy of the Central Bank does not meet the requirements for ensuring such stability...

Having a powerful... structure, the Central Bank implements far from the full range of its functions. Basically, the existing organizational potential of the Central Bank is used by it to implement its own and government directives, which practically ignore the state and conditions of the CB's activities. The functions of regulating the activities of commercial banks are narrowed to macro-settings on reserve requirements and refinancing rates, which... are not aimed at regulating banking activities themselves.

The provision adopted in the Law on the Central Bank on the removal of liability for the debts of the CB determines the position of the Central Bank regarding the entire range of its obligations to the second level of the banking system. Tasks such as strengthening the foundations of the banking system, creating conditions for enhancing the activities of commercial banks, and for predictability of the course of monetary policy have receded... into the background.”

It can be noted that the legal status of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in accordance with the new Law is quite high. It is only necessary to fill this status with real content (and at this point the Central Bank of the Russian Federation could well rely on the support of commercial banks, their associations and unions). The latter depends not only on laws, but also on many other factors, including:

the quality and direction of by-laws, primarily the regulations of the Bank of Russia itself;

the desire and readiness of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to clearly and consistently defend its vision of problems and its policies, to keep a certain distance between it and the executive branch, which, like the legislative branch, is less inclined to look far ahead;

quality of work TSB RF, primarily analytical work;

personalities in key positions in the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and other government structures.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation must be independent. Otherwise, it is not capable of being central in the real sense of the word (more or less of its functions will actually be performed by some other organs).

At the same time, the independence of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation can and should be relative. In other words, at certain moments he cannot help but be dependent. The only question is what it should be dependent on. It seems that this should depend first of all and most of all on the needs of the country’s economy (and on the course of the legislative and executive authorities, if it correctly reflects these needs).

“The experience of many foreign countries shows that to ensure the independence of the Central Bank, the country’s leadership must answer two main questions. First, what degree of formal independence can be considered... as desirable and realistic. Secondly, what is required to ensure such a degree of independence of the Central Bank... In our conditions, apparently, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation itself must first give its answers to these questions (since, as already noted, its legal status is quite high) and convince the public in their validity.

1. Carrying out a unified state monetary policy is one of the most important functions of the Central Bank. The Central Bank, in cooperation with the Government of the Russian Federation, develops and ensures the implementation of the main directions of the unified state monetary policy. In the future, it is the Central Bank that carries out monetary policy using a set of special instruments that are assigned to it by law. In accordance with the law, the Bank of Russia annually, no later than December 1, submits to the State Duma “The main directions of the unified state. PrEP for the coming year."

2. The monopoly of issuing cash and organizing its circulation is one of the oldest functions of the central bank. The Central Bank has a monopoly on the issue of cash banknotes. In order to organize cash circulation on the territory of the Russian Federation, the Bank of Russia is assigned the following functions:

forecasting and organizing the production, transportation and storage of BR banknotes and coins, creating their reserve funds;

establishing rules for the storage, transportation and collection of cash for credit institutions;

establishing signs of solvency, the procedure for destruction, replacement of damaged banknotes and coins of the BR;

determination of the procedure for conducting cash transactions.

3. Organization of a refinancing system. The Central Bank is the lender of last resort for credit institutions.

stations. Currently, the Central Bank provides lending in the following forms: pawn loan; intraday; overnight loan; loans to maintain liquidity.

4. Organization of a payment and settlement system. The Central Bank, in accordance with the legislation, establishes the rules, forms, terms and standards for making payments on the territory of the Russian Federation.

5. Function of banking regulation and supervision.

Licensing and registration of credit organizations;

establishing prudential standards of activity and monitoring their compliance;

inspections and audits of the financial condition of credit institutions;

research and forecasting of the most important trends in the real and other sectors of the economy based on general economic indicators;

analysis and forecasting of the development of the banking system;

regional analysis, including monitoring of the most important enterprises, etc.

The importance of this function will increase as the economic and political situation in the country normalizes.

7. Economic principles of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation

1. Independence of the Central Bank. Interest in the problem of independence of the Central Bank is explained by the need to find such a place for it in the structure of the state. authorities and provide him with such powers that would allow him to most effectively fulfill his

There are criteria that determine the independence of the Central Bank:

state participation in the capital of the Central Bank and distribution of profits;

procedure for appointing (selecting) bank management;

tenure in management positions;

the degree to which the goals and objectives of the Central Bank are reflected in legislation;

the right of the state to interfere in the activities of the Central Bank in the implementation of its functions;

rules governing the possibility of government financing. expenses of the country's Central Bank, etc.

A key element of the legal status of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is the principle of independence, which is manifested, first of all, in the fact that the Central Bank acts as a special public legal institution that has the exclusive right to issue money and organize money circulation. It is not a government agency. authorities, at the same time, his powers, by their legal nature, relate to the functions of the state. authorities, because their implementation involves the use of government measures. coercion. The functions and powers provided for by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law “On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation” are carried out by the Central Bank independently of state bodies. local government authorities.

2. A clear distinction between public finance and the banking system, i.e. limiting the government's ability to use Central Bank funds.

In many countries, direct government lending is practically absent (USA, Canada, Japan, UK, Sweden, Switzerland) or is legally limited (Germany, France, the Netherlands). In Russia, the Central Bank does not have the right to provide loans to the Government of the Russian Federation to finance the budget deficit, or to purchase government securities during their initial placement, unless this is provided by law.

3. The principle of self-sufficiency in the activities of the Central Bank. The Central Bank carries out its expenses at the expense of its own income.

4. The principle of independence in activity. The independence of the Central Bank as an economic entity is expressed in its right to distribute profits at its own discretion (as of January 1, 2005, 80% of the profits of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation are subject to transfer to the federal budget, 20% of profits remain at its disposal), set wages for employees, and dispose of its property. The Central Bank is free to choose the forms and methods of monetary regulation. To implement the goals of its activities and corresponding tasks, the Central Bank has the right to issue regulations on issues related to the conduct of banking operations and not regulated directly in the Federal Law; participate in the development of e.g. policies of the Government of the Russian Federation.

5. The principle of responsibility for performance results means that the Central Bank bears full responsibility for its obligations, as well as for the state of the monetary sector, the inflation rate, and the ruble exchange rate.

6. Interest in the results of the work. Like any legal entity. the person, the Central Bank draws up its balance sheet, income statement, and receives a profit. The profit of the Central Bank is determined as the difference between the amount of income from banking operations and transactions provided for by the Federal Law and income from participation in the capital of credit institutions and expenses associated with the implementation by the Central Bank of its functions established by the Federal Law. Part of the profit remains at the disposal of the bank.

7. Control over the implementation of monetary policy in the process of performing its functions: constant control over the implementation of the main parameters of the Monetary Program.

8. Consistency in the implementation of economic policy. The Central Bank and the Government of the Russian Federation inform each other about proposed actions of national importance, coordinate their policies, and conduct regular consultations.

Central banks are established in most modern capitalist economies. Their functions are extremely significant from the point of view of maintaining the stability of the state’s economic system, the circulation of the national currency, and solving the most important social problems. What are their specifics? What are the features of the work of the Bank of Russia?

The history of the emergence of central banks

Before exploring the essence of the Central Bank as a separate political and financial institution, as well as studying the main functions and tasks of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, let us familiarize ourselves with the basic historical information about how Central Banks appeared. First of all, we note that the names of the relevant structures may vary in different states. For example, in Russia the official name of the corresponding credit institution is the Bank of Russia. In the United States, a similar function is performed by the Federal Reserve System. The National Bank operates in Belarus. But the key functions that the corresponding financial structures perform are, in principle, the same. Unofficially, most of these organizations are called Central Banks, or Central Banks, and are considered as financial market players that solve the same problems.

Regarding key historical facts, it can be noted that the first central banks appeared at the end of the 17th century. The Bank of Sweden, or Riksbank, is considered by many researchers to be the first “central”. It was founded in 1668. The first central banks can also include the Bank of England, which was vested with the right to issue banknotes, as well as discount bills. This institution was founded in 1694. Subsequently, the Central Bank as a financial institution began to spread in other countries. Gradually, the functions of the Central Banks, which opened in different countries of the world, began to be supplemented by treasury activities, playing an intermediary role between the government and commercial banks, and solving problems related to the implementation of national credit and financial policies.

Factors determining the role of the Central Bank in the state economy

Despite the similarity of the tasks they solve, central banks in different countries differ in the degree of independence from the state - primarily political. For example, the US Federal Reserve is seen as an example of one of the most sovereign financial institutions. In turn, the German Federal Bank is among those credit institutions that are largely affiliated with the state. However, regardless of what the actual sovereignty of the Central Bank is, the key functions of the Central Bank in most countries are generally similar. Among them:

• issue of national currency;
• ensuring the functioning of commercial financial institutions;
• participation in the implementation of government economic programs;
• macroeconomic regulation;
• control over compliance with the legality of the work of financial organizations operating within the country;
• analytical work in terms of identifying key performance indicators of the state economy.

Of course, these areas of activity of the Central Bank can be supplemented by other functions, determined based on the specifics of the development of the economic system of a particular country.

Features of the activities of the Bank of Russia

Let us now study the key features of the work and functions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The Bank of Russia operates on the basis of the provisions of Federal Law No. 86, adopted on July 10, 2002. Thus, in accordance with this law, the property of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation belongs to the state as federal property. At the same time, the Bank of Russia has certain powers related to the disposal of its assets, including gold and foreign exchange reserves.

The work of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation involves active interaction with government authorities. Thus, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is obliged to annually submit to the State Duma key theses concerning state credit and financial policy. Before this, the corresponding project must be transferred to the President of the Russian Federation and the government. The Bank of Russia, like most central banks in other countries, is vested with the right to issue national currency, regulate the circulation of finances in the country, set the exchange rate, and manage gold and foreign exchange reserves.

Monetary policy of the Central Bank

Many key tasks and functions of the Central Bank correlate with the state’s monetary policy. This pattern is typical both for the Central Banks of developed countries in general and for the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The key directions of monetary policy that modern researchers highlight are:

• maintaining price stability,
• money issue,
• ensuring a competitive exchange rate of the national currency,
• solving social problems - such as reducing unemployment.

Central banks, when building strategies for implementing monetary policy, determine target indicators for each of the identified areas of work. For example, this could be the desired exchange rate of the national currency, unemployment rate, inflation rate, etc. After which they regulate the banking system to ensure that its key indicators correspond to the desired values.

In developed countries, the main functions and operations of the Central Bank in terms of monetary policy are concentrated on achieving acceptable indicators of inflation and employment of citizens. The priority of these tasks is largely related to the demands of society: the population of the country will, first of all, welcome the opportunity to buy goods with minimal price increases, as well as get a job in the desired profession. The main difficulty that accompanies the functioning of the Central Bank in this part is that in a capitalist economy, a low level of unemployment, which is largely the result of the dynamic development of the economy, can be accompanied by high rates of inflation.

Key functions of the Bank of Russia

What are the actual main functions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation? They form a fairly extensive list:

• interaction with the government of the Russian Federation with a view to developing a unified monetary and financial policy of the state;
• monopoly issue of the ruble, organization of monetary circulation of the national Russian currency;
• lending and refinancing of private banks;
• establishing rules for settlements in the Russian Federation and conducting banking operations;
• servicing budgets;
• management of state gold and foreign exchange reserves;
• work on state registration and licensing of private banks;
• control over the activities of commercial credit and financial structures in terms of ensuring the legality of their functioning;
• monitoring the work of private banks;
• registration of emission procedures carried out by credit institutions;
• currency regulation and related control;
• formation of rules for the settlement of Russian financial residents with foreign structures;
• establishing standards governing accounting and reporting in the Russian Federation;
• formation of rules regarding the purchase and sale of foreign currency;
• control over inflation processes.

The Central Bank is also engaged in analytical work to identify key performance indicators of the Russian economy.

The noted functions of the Central Bank of Russia correlate with the key goals of the Russian Central Bank.

Among them:

• ensuring the stability of the national currency,
• development and strengthening of the credit and financial system of the Russian Federation,
• ensuring the efficient operation of the state payment system.

The stated goals set for the Russian Central Bank imply their consistent achievement with the participation of various structural divisions of the main banking institution of Russia. Let's consider this aspect in more detail.

Structure of the Central Bank

So, the goals and functions of the Central Bank that we noted above imply a correlation with the work of the structural divisions of the Russian Central Bank. All of them are built into a centralized system. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation, therefore, implements the principle of vertical management.

The structure of the Central Bank includes:

• central office;
• regional institutions;
• computer centers;
• storage;
• additional institutions performing a supporting function in relation to the work of key structures.

Specifics of the work of regional structures of the Central Bank

The vertical management system of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation includes, as we noted above, the regional structures of the main bank of the state. Let's take a closer look at the specifics of their activities.

Senior management of the Central Bank

Responsibility for how effectively the main functions of the Central Bank should be performed rests directly with the top management of the Central Bank. Let us consider the specifics of the functioning of the corresponding institution in more detail.

The key governing body of the Bank of Russia is the Board of Directors. It is a collegial structure responsible for the key functions of the Central Bank, the main directions of the bank’s activities, and also manages the institution. The Board of Directors of the Central Bank includes the Chairman of the Central Bank, as well as 12 permanent members of the Council of the Central Bank. The structure of the top management of the Bank of Russia under consideration forms the internal structure of the central apparatus of the organization and approves the charters of various structural divisions of the Central Bank. The Board of Directors is responsible for regulating the activities of commercial financial institutions in Russia.

Central Bank instruments

Through what instruments can the Central Bank of Russia perform its functions? Researchers highlight the following list:

• approval of the key rate for main operations;
• formation of reserve requirements;
• conducting transactions on the open market;
• lending and refinancing to commercial financial institutions;
• currency regulation;
• issue of own assets.

In general, as we see, the noted list of instruments correlates with the key functions of the Central Bank. The management activities of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation are carried out through the publication of special legal acts - orders, instructions. The legislation of the Russian Federation may determine other instruments that allow the implementation of the main functions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

So, we have examined the main features of the activities of Central Banks as a credit and financial institution in general, as well as the Bank of Russia in particular. The main functions of the Central Bank can be briefly presented in the following list:

• macroeconomic regulation in correlation with social objectives;
• ensuring the stability of the state's financial system;
• issuing national currency and ensuring cash circulation in the country.

Their implementation involves vesting the Central Bank with the necessary powers in terms of interaction with other departments. But what should their volume be? Let us consider this issue in the context of interaction between the Central Bank and other government bodies.

Interaction between the Central Bank and authorities

The role and functions of the Central Bank enshrined in legislation in practice mean that the main banking institution of the state will also have to interact with other government agencies, and in this sense, these communications may be accompanied by a number of contradictions. What might they be?

First of all, the interests of non-banking government agencies - for example the Ministry of Finance - may involve priority reduction of unemployment. In turn, the Central Bank may decide to place emphasis on reducing inflation. The position of both departments in this case is quite understandable. The Ministry of Finance as a government structure will be interested primarily in solving social problems, in this case, ensuring employment of citizens. In turn, the functions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation include ensuring macroeconomic stability, one of the criteria of which is low inflation.

Regarding the solution to the noted problem - when the priorities of the Central Bank and other government bodies may diverge, there are two rather polar points of view among researchers. In accordance with the first, the goals and functions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation should be given priority over the activities of government structures, since competent macroeconomic regulation is a potentially more powerful tool from the point of view of effective management of the national economy than solving problems predetermined by the demands of society, which may not always correlate with opportunities states. Every citizen, researchers believe, wants to receive a large salary in a good position, but this desire must be real from the point of view of the objective laws of economics. The knowledge of which is assumed to be more competent for Central Bank financiers than for government employees.

In accordance with another point of view, the tasks and functions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation should be directly determined by the demands of society. It is quite possible, analysts believe, that citizens will be quite prepared for high inflation - but the main thing is that there is work. As an example, supporters of this point of view point to some European countries in which price growth is low or even expressed in negative values, but unemployment is off the charts in the tens of percent. In this sense, the central banks of those countries do an excellent job of solving the problem associated with inflation targeting, but the demands of society are completely unsatisfied - people cannot get a job, and their income is not enough even to purchase goods at stable prices.

Such a discussion often flows into posing the question: “Is it worth legislatively allowing the Central Bank to act independently of the government and thereby giving the Central Bank priority in macroeconomic regulation?” Let's consider this aspect in more detail.

Does the Central Bank need independence?

So, should the Central Bank be independent from the government? There are two polar points of view on this matter.

The first assumes - yes, the Central Bank should be as independent as possible from other political institutions. This is predetermined by the laws of the capitalist economy, according to which the more freedom of action a particular market subject has, the more effectively the economic system develops - in a particular industry or on the scale of the state as a whole.

The main counterargument to the noted position is that the independence of the Central Bank is good exactly until the moment a crisis begins in the economy. After this, the actions of the Central Bank, dictated by some analysis and calculations, in which an error can always creep in, can predetermine the emergence of a large-scale socio-political crisis. In such scenarios, the Central Bank must, at a minimum, take into account the position of government structures, and best of all, bring its activities into line with the priorities that are formed at the level of non-bank political institutions.

What is the status of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, how independent is it from government agencies? On the one hand, in the legislation of the Russian Federation there are formulations according to which the main functions and tasks of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation imply activities subject to the sovereignty of the Central Bank relative to the Government. On the other hand, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is accountable to government authorities - in particular the State Duma. Thus, the Russian Central Bank legally has the ability to act independently, but in practice, the actual use of the relevant powers is difficult to trace.

In the community of Russian experts, there is a widespread thesis confirming the independence of the Central Bank, which consists in the actual reluctance of the Central Bank of Russia to use the state’s gold and foreign exchange reserves for infrastructure or solving social problems - instead, gold and currency reserves continue to be held in foreign assets. In this sense, the activities of the Bank of Russia may be assessed as inconsistent with the priorities of the Government. There is also a counter-argument to this thesis - at the moment, gold and foreign currency reserves, based on macroeconomic realities, are not entirely advisable to use as an investment resource. It would be better if these were reserves in case of economic crises. As soon as the need to use gold and foreign currency reserves as an investment instrument appears, and the Russian government confirms this, the Central Bank will release the corresponding reserves, researchers believe.