Financial structure
The financial system channels funds from those who are net savers (i.e. who spend less than their income) to those who are net spenders (who spend more than their income).
- direct or market-based finance via financial markets (see top route in the chart below), and
- indirect or bank-based finance via financial intermediaries (see the bottom of the chart below).
The two main routes to channel funds from savers to borrowers are:
Assets and liabilities in the euro area
As regards financial assets of the non-financial sector in the euro area, currency and deposits accounted for around 24% of total assets at the end of 2012, while securities and shares accounted together for around 39%. Insurance technical reserves accounted for around 16%.
Loans accounted for 49% of total liabilities, whereas securities, including quoted shares, comprised around 35% of the financing sources of the non-financial sector.
Main financial assets of non-financial sectors in the euro area at end-2012 (1)
| Outstanding amounts of selected financial assets | EUR billions | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 41,190 | 100.0 | ||
| Currency and deposits | 9,939 | 24.1 | ||
| Currency | 735.0 | 1.8 | ||
| Deposits with | 9,204 | 22.3 | ||
| Euro area MFIs | 8,447.5 | 20.5 | ||
| Non-MFIs | 756.3 | 1.8 | ||
| Securities other than shares | 2,201 | 5.3 | ||
| Short-term | 165.7 | 0.4 | ||
| Long-term | 2,035.1 | 4.9 | ||
| Shares | 13,857 | 34 | ||
| Quoted shares | 2,099.0 | 5.1 | ||
| Unquoted shares | 9,787.5 | 23.8 | ||
| Mutual fund shares | 1,970.4 | 4.8 | ||
| o/w Money market fund shares/units | 272.4 | 0.7 | ||
| Insurance technical reserves | 6,401 | 15.5 | ||
| Net equity of households in life insurance and pension fund reserves | 5,919.9 | 14.4 | ||
| Prepayments of insurance premiums and reserves for outstanding claims | 480.9 | 1.2 | ||
| Other(2) | 8,793.2 | 21.3 | ||
| Sources: ECB and Eurostat ( 1 ) Non-financial sectors comprise general government, non-financial corporations and households, including non-profit institutions serving households. ( 2 ) Other financial assets comprise loans and other accounts receivable, which in turn include trade credit granted by non-financial corporations. | ||||
Main financial liabilities of non-financial sectors in the euro area at end-2012 (1)
| Outstanding amounts of selected financial liabilities | EUR billions | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sources: ECB and Eurostat ( 1 ) Non-financial sectors comprise general government, non-financial corporations and households, including non-profit institutions serving households. ( 2 ) Including non-profit institutions serving households. ( 3 ) Other financial liabilities comprise other accounts payable and financial derivatives. | ||||
| Total | 34,395 | 100.0 | ||
| Loans | 16,813 | 48.9 | ||
| a) taken from | ||||
| Euro area MFIs | 11,006 | 32.0 | ||
| o/w short-term o/w long term | 1,594 9,412 | 4.6 27.4 | ||
| Other financial intermediaries | 5,807 | 16.9 | ||
| b) granted to | ||||
| General government | 2,273 | 6.6 | ||
| Short-term | 301 | 0.9 | ||
| Long-term | 1,972 | 5.7 | ||
| Non-financial corporations | 8,347 | 24.3 | ||
| Short-term | 2,254 | 6.6 | ||
| Long-term | 6,093 | 17.7 | ||
| Households(2) | 6,192 | 18.0 | ||
| Short-term | 352 | 1.0 | ||
| Long-term | 5,840 | 17.0 | ||
| Securities other than shares | 8,430 | 24.5 | ||
| general government | 7,391 | 21.5 | ||
| Short-term | 670 | 1.9 | ||
| Long-term | 6,721 | 19.5 | ||
| non-financial corporations | 1,040 | 3.0 | ||
| Short-term | 83 | 0.2 | ||
| Long-term | 956 | 2.8 | ||
| Quoted shares | ||||
| issued by non-financial corporations | 3,747 | 10.9 | ||
| Deposits | ||||
| liabilities of central government | 256 | 0.7 | ||
| Pension fund reserves | ||||
| of non-financial corporations | 349 | 1.0 | ||
| Other(3) | 4,801 | 14.0 | ||