The stock exchanges and other institutions where securities with an expected maturity of a year or more on issue are bought and sold. The securities concerned include both shares in companies and various forms of private and public debt. The capital market allows firms, governments, and countries to finance spending in excess of their current incomes. It also enables individuals, firms, and countries to lend to others savings they cannot employ as profitably themselves. Some transactions in capital markets involve the sale of newly issued shares and debt instruments, but the vast majority occur in secondary markets, where existing shares and debt instruments change ownership. The lack of an efficiently organized capital market may create an obstacle to the efficient use of savings, and thus to overall economic development. Securities with an expected maturity of less than a year are traded on the money market.