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Macro-economic determinants of domestic private sector credit in sub-Saharan Africa

Credit, to the private sector, is a critical component in driving growth and development the world over. In Africa, the level of credit advanced to the private sector as a percentage of GDP seems to have lagged other more developed regions at 46% of GDP in 2015, in comparison to 120% of global GDP....

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Main Author: Mukuka, Fortune Malama
Other Authors: Alhassan, Abdul Latif
Format: Thesis
Language:Eng
Published: Graduate School of Business (GSB) 2019
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access_status_str Open Access
author Mukuka, Fortune Malama
author2 Alhassan, Abdul Latif
author_browse Alhassan, Abdul Latif
Mukuka, Fortune Malama
author_facet Alhassan, Abdul Latif
Mukuka, Fortune Malama
author_sort Mukuka, Fortune Malama
collection Thesis
description Credit, to the private sector, is a critical component in driving growth and development the world over. In Africa, the level of credit advanced to the private sector as a percentage of GDP seems to have lagged other more developed regions at 46% of GDP in 2015, in comparison to 120% of global GDP. This study seeks to examine the macro-economic determinants of private sector credit growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The study focuses on independent variables GDP growth (GDP), money supply (M2), inflation (CPI) and interest rates (INTR). Using a panel data approach, twelve sub-Saharan countries are analysed with data observed over a thirty-six-year period, from 1980 to 2015. The size of the panel of countries was determined by the availability of data points on all variables that enabled a balanced panel. Both the random effects and the fixed effects estimation techniques are computed with the random effects method being more significant in the regression analysis, exploring the relationships between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The key findings of the study are that money supply is a significant determinant of private sector credit growth in sub-Saharan Africa showing a positive correlation coefficient. A percentage increase in M2 results in an increase of 0.9% in credit to the private sector. Inflation, on the other hand, dampens the growth in credit to the private sector with a significant negative correlation: a percentage increase results in a reduction of 0.06% in credit to the private sector. GDP growth was statistically insignificant in determining private sector credit growth, with recessionary periods experienced by the sample countries yielding a marginal negative correlation coefficient. Interest rates were also statistically insignificant with a negative correlation to private sector credit showing that credit growth was driven by the underlying need, rather than the cost of credit, in sub-Saharan Africa. It is recommended that policy makers and African governments formulate macro-economic policy that delicately balances the need to drive growth in required money supply, while at the same time maintaining stability in the rate of inflation and related variables. It is also recommended that Financial institutions implement strategies that prioritise mobilisation of loanable funds over interest rate margins. Private sector players are encouraged to focus on promoting investment-led credit consumption in key sectors of the African economy.
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language Eng
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license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2019
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/30579 Macro-economic determinants of domestic private sector credit in sub-Saharan Africa Mukuka, Fortune Malama Alhassan, Abdul Latif Credit, to the private sector, is a critical component in driving growth and development the world over. In Africa, the level of credit advanced to the private sector as a percentage of GDP seems to have lagged other more developed regions at 46% of GDP in 2015, in comparison to 120% of global GDP. This study seeks to examine the macro-economic determinants of private sector credit growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The study focuses on independent variables GDP growth (GDP), money supply (M2), inflation (CPI) and interest rates (INTR). Using a panel data approach, twelve sub-Saharan countries are analysed with data observed over a thirty-six-year period, from 1980 to 2015. The size of the panel of countries was determined by the availability of data points on all variables that enabled a balanced panel. Both the random effects and the fixed effects estimation techniques are computed with the random effects method being more significant in the regression analysis, exploring the relationships between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The key findings of the study are that money supply is a significant determinant of private sector credit growth in sub-Saharan Africa showing a positive correlation coefficient. A percentage increase in M2 results in an increase of 0.9% in credit to the private sector. Inflation, on the other hand, dampens the growth in credit to the private sector with a significant negative correlation: a percentage increase results in a reduction of 0.06% in credit to the private sector. GDP growth was statistically insignificant in determining private sector credit growth, with recessionary periods experienced by the sample countries yielding a marginal negative correlation coefficient. Interest rates were also statistically insignificant with a negative correlation to private sector credit showing that credit growth was driven by the underlying need, rather than the cost of credit, in sub-Saharan Africa. It is recommended that policy makers and African governments formulate macro-economic policy that delicately balances the need to drive growth in required money supply, while at the same time maintaining stability in the rate of inflation and related variables. It is also recommended that Financial institutions implement strategies that prioritise mobilisation of loanable funds over interest rate margins. Private sector players are encouraged to focus on promoting investment-led credit consumption in key sectors of the African economy. 2019-10-16T07:22:41Z 2019-10-16T07:22:41Z 2019 2019-10-16T07:13:11Z Master Thesis Masters MCom (Development Finance) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30579 Eng application/pdf Graduate School of Business (GSB) Faculty of Commerce
spellingShingle Mukuka, Fortune Malama
Macro-economic determinants of domestic private sector credit in sub-Saharan Africa
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Macro-economic determinants of domestic private sector credit in sub-Saharan Africa
title_full Macro-economic determinants of domestic private sector credit in sub-Saharan Africa
title_fullStr Macro-economic determinants of domestic private sector credit in sub-Saharan Africa
title_full_unstemmed Macro-economic determinants of domestic private sector credit in sub-Saharan Africa
title_short Macro-economic determinants of domestic private sector credit in sub-Saharan Africa
title_sort macro economic determinants of domestic private sector credit in sub saharan africa
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30579
work_keys_str_mv AT mukukafortunemalama macroeconomicdeterminantsofdomesticprivatesectorcreditinsubsaharanafrica