ABSTRACT
The economic reforms that have been carried out in the member nations of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance have affected the monetary and credit systems of these nations. The evolution of the monetary and credit system in the Eastern bloc could pave the way for money to assume foreign trade functions in the planned economies, and thus developments in these countries are also of interest to economic circles in the West. In the planned economies, just as in the market economies, credit continues to be the best means for raising money, whether in the form of deposit money for interenterprise payments or cash for consumer trade. The banks maintain a close relationship with the enterprises, on which they place high demands. In modern economies, bank credit is the primary source for raising money and, as such, performs two basic functions: it provides the funds for meeting economic objectives, and it creates money (the income and issuing functions of credit).
