Sunday, April 5, 2009

International Finance. .

International Finance can be defined as the branch of economics which studies the dynamics of exchange rates and foreign investment and studies how these affect international trade. Financing is defined as the methodology of allocating financial resources or funds to maximize returns on a productive enterprise. It can also be dealt as a study of the ways individuals, businesses and organizations raise, allocate and manage monetary resources over time taking into account the associated risks. Financing can also be labeled as effective management of wealth and other assets. In terms of corporate or business finance, financing is known as the science of allocating financial resources such as stocks, bonds and other portfolio investments in an optimal manner to maximize the wealth or income of the business unit. The major decisions undertaken for the successful allocation process takes into account capital budgeting, financing and dividend policy. While capital budgeting takes into account the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) on the invested capital, the financing decisions are rested on the financing options available to a company to raise resources for the organization or company in question. In terms of the IRR or the Net Present Value (NPV), the capital invested is said to give a positive yield or return if the IRR or NPV is found to be greater than the cost of invested capital defined as the total financial resources in vested in a business. Financing deals with investing in debts (bonds or loans from lending institutions) or equities (common stock or preferred stock) and dividend policy is concerned with dividing the gains through corporate finance among the stockholders of the company in terms of dividends.
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International Finance is concerned with the same methodology of allocating financial resources and about international trade but is constrained by the movements of capital and currencies between countries and the difference in the exchange rates between different currencies. The capital budgeting techniques used in this case as against traditional finance entails international cash flows and local tax rates and the required return on investment or the cost of capital adjusted for the degree of risk in that country or the sensitivity of the project. Foreign capital markets are a major source of equity and debts for most domestic and foreign subsidiary operations. International trade is heavily influenced by the volatility in the foreign capital markets and the limited steps to full capital account convertibility undertaken by many countries. Exchange rates, as mentioned previously, are a predominant factor in determining international finance as international exports or imports can suffer losses in earnings as a result of exchange rate fluctuations. Forward Currency Contracts between the two concerned parties can help to somewhat avert this possibility. One of the leading international bodies promoting sustainable private sector investment in developing countries thereby increasing its growth potential and the possibility of trade interactions with the developed world is the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Established in 1956, IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is the largest multilateral source of loan and equity financing for private sector projects in the developing countries. In addition to providing technical assistance to businesses and governments in the developing world, it helps private companies in the developing nations mobilize resources in the international financial markets. International Finance is now becoming all the more encompassing with issues such as fair trade, globalization, Multi-national corporations and multinational banking coming under its ambit. With globalization becoming the buzz word of the modern era, rapidly integrating world production, consumption markets and the widespread diffusion of modern technology has contributed to the widening of the sphere of international finance. International Finance should effectively address these issues and the problem of exploitation by MNC’s of the physical and human resources of poor developing countries can also be ameliorated by the principles of International Finance.

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