The world is awash with cash. We know this, almost intuitively, because many banks have cut interest rates on our saving accounts to almost zero as they discourage more savings – to reduce the amount of interest payments they accrue
What’s more, demand for bank loans have been subdued, meaning interest fees owed to banks are lower too.
In Singapore, bank loans declined to S$677.9 billion in August, which was the smallest bank lending since April 2019.
According to McKinsey & Company, governments around the world announced an unprecedented cash injection of US$10 trillion in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These government stimulus packages included guarantees, loans, transfers to both companies and individuals, tax deferrals, and equity investments.
In many cases, governments have issued debt that in turn has been bought by central banks through the creation of fresh cash.
Whatever it takes
The Federal Reserve has even gone so far as to say that...