3Markets

3.3 Money market

The money market in Spain is based fundamentally on the issuance of short-term securities by the Bank of Spain which are taken up by banks, finance institutions and money market operators which subsequently place a portion of them with individual investors and businesses.

In a broader sense, the money market is also deemed to encompass interbank deposits (whose interest rates are used as a reference rate for other transactions) and trading commercial paper.

The money market has become increasingly important as a result of the deregulation and move towards greater flexibility of the Spanish financial system overall in recent years, given that interest rates are ordinarily higher than the rate of inflation and given the substantial volume of trading in money market securities.