Repo Market – Meaning and its Importance

The repo market is probably the largest section of the money market. It is estimated that the daily volume of transactions in the repo market is between $2 trillion and $4 trillion.

This is the market where the central bank, commercial banks as well as institutional investors play a major role. Since these are large players, their transaction sizes are also large. This is what makes the repo market the most vital sub-market within the money market.

The repo market is often referred to as the beating heart of the money market.

Almost every investor would have heard about the term repo rate in their investment journey. However, not many investors are actually aware of what this term means and why it is so important.

In this article, we will understand why the repo market is such an important part of the overall money market. We will also understand how the government uses the repo market in order to implement its monetary policy at the grassroots level.

What is the Repo Market?

The repo market is short for the repurchase market. The name of the market implies that there is some sort of a sale that happens followed by a repurchase. This is exactly what the market is all about.

The repo market is essentially about buying and selling contracts with securities as collateral.

For instance, bank A wants to borrow money from the market. They only want to keep this money overnight. Now, bank A is in possession of certain government securities which they use as collateral.

Hence, on paper, a repo contract has two legs.

1. The first leg provides details about the sale which happens on an immediate basis.

2. The second leg of the contract provides details of the repurchase which is bound to happen at a later date (in this case, the next day).

Details about the price at which this transaction will be undertaken are also mentioned in the contract.

Hence, the seller of securities is promising to buy the same securities at a higher price. For the buyer of securities, the only risk involved in the credit risk of the seller. Hence, this is not a sale or purchase transaction. Instead, it is a short-term loan transaction where the securities are being used as collateral.

The difference between the current market price of the securities as well as the price at which the securities will be repurchased is actually the interest rate that is being paid to borrow this loan. This interest rate is called the repo rate. It is an important indicator of the overall health of the economy and the financial markets.

Why is the Repo Market Important?

The repo market is important because of several key reasons.

One of the important reasons is that when the government sells securities, the money to buy those securities is normally arranged via the repo market.

The government generally sells securities to financial institutions. These institutions generally pawn off the existing securities which they have on their balance sheet to raise more funds. These funds are then paid to the government in exchange for newly created debt.

The financial institutions use their distribution channel to quickly sell these securities to end-users. They then receive the money from the investors which they use to repurchase the securities at a higher rate.

Hence, it can be said that the repo market is directly linked with the government securities market. Hence, if there was any disruption in the repo market, it would easily spill onto the issue of government securities. This is exactly what happened during the 2019 crisis.

The coronavirus pandemic disrupted the flow of money and goods across the world. As a result, investors were skeptical about lending funds in the repo market. This caused the overnight interest rates to skyrocket. Since the cost of funding to borrow loans went up, so did the demanded interest rate on government securities. Now, the interest rate of the government securities is the benchmark used by everyone else to set their own interest rates.

Therefore, in short, the repo market influences the rate at which government securities are being sold. This rate is then used as a benchmark by everyone in the larger economy. Hence, it can be said that the repo market influences the larger economy.

How Central Banks Intervene in the Repo Market?

Now, since we know that the repo market can have large-scale implications on the overall economy, it should not be surprising that central banks across the world take aggressive measures in order to manage this market.

Central banks are often active participants in this market. This is because they are trying to manage the supply and demand in this market which ultimately influences the rate.

Central banks participate both as buyers as well as sellers in the overall market. This means that they do inject cash into the market by buying securities. On the other hand, sometimes they also sell securities in order to suck out the additional cash from the system. This is known as a reverse repo.

The rate which the government offers to institutions in exchange for their securities is called the reverse repo rate.

Hence, it can be said that the repo market is that part of the money market which is highly intertwined with the actions of the central bank as well as the overall monetary policy. This is what makes it the most regulated sub-market in the entire system.