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Africa > Malawi

You are looking at 1 - 7 of 7 items for :

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Cover Policy Papers
2021 Special Drawing Rights Allocation—Ex-Post Assessment Report
International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
and
International Monetary Fund. Finance Dept.
This report follows up on the impact of the historic $650 billion 2021 SDR allocation on the global economy, documenting IMF members' use of the allocation and assessing its economic effects. The report finds that the allocation was beneficial for the global economy, helping meet the long-term global need for reserves and supporting market confidence. Members used the allocation mostly to increase international reserve buffers, with some emerging market and developing countries also using it to meet fiscal and external financing needs. While SDR interest costs have increased, members’ capacity to service SDR obligations remains generally adequate. Members’ use of the allocation was mostly in line with Fund advice, and the transparency and accountability of SDR holdings and use has been broadly appropriate, although some gaps remain. Voluntary SDR channeling from economically stronger to more vulnerable members has helped amplify the benefits of the allocation.
Keywords:
SDR channeling; service SDR obligation; SDR tracker; SDR converter; SDR department obligation; SDR interest rate; Freely usable currencies; International reserves; Credit default swap; Currencies; Global
Cover Departmental Papers
Macro-Financial Linkages in Shallow Markets: Experience from the African Department’s Pilot Countries
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This paper assesses and disseminates experiences and lessons from low-income countries (LICs) in Sub-Saharan Africa that were selected by the Africa Department in 2015-16 as pilots for enhanced analysis of macro-financial linkages in Article IV staff reports. The paper focuses on the common characteristics across the pilot countries and highlights the tools used in the analysis, the challenges encountered, and the solutions deployed in overcoming them.
Keywords:
DPPP; DP; interest rate; credit risk; central bank; banking sector; bank competition; cost of funds; composite index; lending condition; Malawian bank; economic value; bank information cost; financial system assets; banking system assets; bank level; banks in Benin; bank agent; Financial sector development; Financial sector; Stress testing; Credit; Sub-Saharan Africa; East Africa; Middle East; East Asia
Cover IMF Working Papers
Financial Reforms and Interest Rate Spreads in the Commercial Banking System in Malawi
Mr. Ephraim W. Chirwa
and
Mr. Montfort Mlachila
This study investigates the impact of financial sector reforms on interest rate spreads in the commercial banking system in Malawi. The financial reform program commenced in 1989 when both the Reserve Bank Act and the Banking Act were revised with the easing of entry requirements into the banking system, and indirect monetary policy instruments were subsequently introduced in 1990. The adoption of a floating exchange rate in 1994 marked the end of major policy reforms in the Malawian financial sector. Using alternative definitions of spreads, our analysis shows that spreads increased significantly following liberalization, and panel regression results suggest that the observed high spreads can be attributed to high monopoly power, high reserve requirements, high central bank discount rate and high inflation.
Keywords:
WP; liberalization; bank; commercial bank; interest rate; financial product; Commercial banks; interest spreads; financial liberalization; Malawi; market share; monetary policy; bank behavior; bank spread; Financial sector reform; Discount rates; Reserve requirements; Deposit rates; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Survey
IMF Survey: Volume 28, Issue 01
International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept.
The Web edition of the IMF Survey is updated several times a week, and contains a wealth of articles about topical policy and economic issues in the news. Access the latest IMF research, read interviews, and listen to podcasts given by top IMF economists on important issues in the global economy. www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/home.aspx
Keywords:
SV; IMF's Administration Department; structural adjustment Facility; ESAF arrangement; IMF Deputy managing director Shigemitsu Sugisaki; contingency financing facility; IMF Deputy managing director Alassane D. Ouattara; reserve facility; Lender of last resort; SDR interest rate; International monetary system; Inflation; Africa; Global; Europe; Sub-Saharan Africa; Southeast Asia
Cover IMF Working Papers
Sources of Debt Accumulation in a Small Open Economy
Mr. Abdelhak S Senhadji
This paper analyzes the borrowing behavior of a small open economy of a developing country that relies heavily on imports for its capital formation and faces an upward-sloping supply function of foreign loans. Decision makers face uncertainty about the longevity of external shocks. That uncertainty generates forecast errors that lead to substantial debt accumulation. It is found that the assumption of an upward-sloping supply function of foreign loans, which is a more realistic formulation for developing countries than the usual perfect elasticity, offers an alternative to the Uzawa-type utility function for analyzing asset accumulation in the small open economy framework.
Keywords:
WP; interest rate; Debt Accumulation; Stochastic Dynamic General Equilibrium Model; External Shocks; Incomplete Information; Developing Countries; world interest rate; terms of trade shock; business cycle; open economy; debt level; Terms of trade; Real interest rates; Exports; Imports
Cover IMF Working Papers
Interest Rate Liberalization: Some Lessons From Africa
Mr. Bart Turtelboom
This paper undertakes a survey of theoretical considerations and an analysis of the experience of five African countries with interest rate liberalization. Despite substantial progress in monetary policy reforms, liberalization has only partially affected the level and variability of interest rates. Several factors—macroeconomic instability, oligopolistic financial markets, the absence of developed capital markets, as well as the sequencing of the liberalization programs and the asymmetric availability of information—explain the increase in the spread between lending and deposit rates as well as the rather inflexible pattern of interest rates during the transition to a market-based financial system.
Keywords:
WP; lending rate; interest rate liberalization; treasury bill; central bank; exchange rate; liberalization program; rate of inflation; income effect; an interest rate; interest rate structure; Deposit rates; Commercial banks; Real interest rates; Financial sector; Inflation; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover Finance & Development
Finance & Development, June 1971
International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept.
This paper examines the difference between “capital” and “investment” for developing countries. The paper highlights that investment in material capital is merely one of the factors involved in economic development and that current expenditures on health, education, agricultural extension, family planning, research, management training, and so on, may be equally important or even more important than investment in capital. The paper offers a brief historical survey, drawing attention to factors leading to the development of a market where savers and investors are brought together.
Keywords:
FD; F&D; cost; market; dollar; monetary unit; ratio; IDA lending operations; budget agency; fund Stand-by arrangements; lending program; benefit cost; International capital markets; Budget planning and preparation; Income and capital gains taxes; Commodity markets; Discount rates; Africa; Asia and Pacific; East Africa; North America; Global