Re-discount - Saiwaribiki

This refers to a situation where a financial institution has discounted a bill and then have it discounted again by another financial institution. In Japan, the Bank of Japan is the main rediscounting institution. Bills that the Bank of Japan recognizes as eligible for discounting are called bills eligible for rediscounting. In addition to commercial bills, this also included export advance bills and time-limited export bills that met certain requirements, but since October 1972, only commercial bills have been eligible for rediscounting.

In this way, the rediscounting of bills is part of the Bank of Japan's supply of funds to private financial institutions, but the outstanding balance of bills issued by companies has been shrinking, and the Bank's rediscounting of bills has dropped sharply. Looking at the trends in the "discounted bills" balance according to the Bank of Japan accounts, as of the end of each year, it rose from 198.2 billion yen, accounting for 4.5% of loans (loans + discounted bills) in 1985 (Showa 60), to 143.7 billion yen, 2.3% in 1990 (Heisei 2), 83.9 billion yen, 1.7% in 1995, 4.8 billion yen, 0.6% in 2000, and has been zero since 2001. The Bank of Japan's official discount rate was "the rate at which commercial bills are discounted and the interest rate on loans secured by government bonds, particularly designated bonds, or bills equivalent to commercial bills," but in January 2001 the definition of the official discount rate was changed to "the basic discount rate and the basic lending rate" (the source of the figures is the Bank of Japan's Financial and Economic Statistics Monthly).

[Yutaka Inoue]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

金融機関が割り引いた手形をふたたび他の金融機関に割り引いてもらうことをいう。日本では、日本銀行がおもな再割引機関である。日本銀行が割引適格と認めた優良手形を再割引適格手形といい、商業手形のほか、一定の要件を備えた輸出前貸手形・期限付輸出手形も含まれていたが、1972年（昭和47）10月以降、商業手形のみを再割引適格手形としている。

　このように、手形の再割引は民間金融機関に対する日本銀行の資金供給の一環でもあるが、企業の手形発行残高自体が縮小傾向にあり、日本銀行の再割引手形は激減した。日本銀行勘定により「割引手形」残高の推移をみると各年末時点で、1985年（昭和60）1982億円・貸出金（貸付金＋割引手形）に占める比率4.5％から、1990年（平成2）1437億円・2.3％、1995年839億円・1.7％、2000年48億円・0.6％となっており、2001年以降はゼロである。この日本銀行の「商業手形割引歩合ならびに国債、特に指定する債券または商業手形に準ずる手形を担保とする貸付利子歩合」が公定歩合であったが、2001年1月より公定歩合の定義は「基準割引率および基準貸付利率」に変更された（計数出所は日本銀行『金融経済統計月報』）。

［井上　裕］

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