illiquidity
illiquidityThe property of not being easily turned into money. Some assets are illiquid because there are no markets on which they can easily be traded: for example, unsecured loans to bank customers. Other assets are illiquid because while they can be traded, the price that can be obtained may be hard to predict, especially if a quick sale is required. This applies to shares in companies, or to houses. This is contrasted with liquidity, the property of being turned into money rapidly and at a fairly predictable price. Apart from money itself, short-dated securities or bills are the main asset of this form.
The property of having illiquid assets. A business may have problems over meeting its obligations because, although it believes itself to be solvent, its assets are not liquid. If its own view of its solvency were shared by credit institutions it would be able to obtain liquidity on credit, but the information which leads it to...
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