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Africa > Uganda

You are looking at 1 - 5 of 5 items for :

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Cover IMF Working Papers
Mobile Money, Perception about Cash, and Financial Inclusion: Learning from Uganda’s Micro-Level Data
Felix F. Simione
and
Tara S Muehlschlegel
Will mobile money render cash less dominant over time in Africa? Can it promote financial inclusion? We shed light on these questions by exploring individual-level and nationally representative survey data for Uganda, a country in a region that pioneered mobile money in the world. We use the Propensity Score Matching method to robustly compare mobile money users and non-users across a range of indicators that capture individuals’ perceptions about cash, and the extent to which they remit, save, and borrow money. We present the first evidence that mobile money users, compared to non-users, are more likely to perceive cash as risky and less likely to prefer carrying large amounts of cash. We also confirm that mobile money users are more likely to receive and send remittances, save, and borrow. They also save and borrow larger amounts.
Keywords:
Developing Country; Innovation; Digital Divide; money usage; selected indicator; Propensity Score Matching method; usage treatment; deposit balance; Mobile banking; Remittances; Financial inclusion; Digital financial services; Consumer credit; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Role of Structural Fiscal Policy on Female Labor Force Participation in OECD Countries
Miyoko Asai
,
Qiaoe Chen
,
Mr. Jiro Honda
,
Xingwei Hu
, and
Qianqian Zhang
This paper examines the role of structural fiscal policies to promote female labor force participation and reduce gender gaps in labor markets in 26 OECD countries from 2000 to 2019. As both female labor force participation and many explanatory/control variables clearly exhibit non-stationarity (potentially leading to spurious regression results), we employ a panel vector error-correction model, in contrast with most previous empirical studies on this matter. Our analyses confirm statistically significant positive impacts of government spending on (1) early childcare and education, (2) active labor market programs, and (3) unemployment benefits, all of which would help encourage women to enter the labor force, while (4) an increase in relative tax rate on second earner could have negative impact on female labor force participation.
Keywords:
Fiscal Policy; Gender; Labor Force; OECD; panel unit root; panel vector error-correction model; robustness test; panel VECM result; female LFPR; age group; regression analysis; positive correlation; standard deviation; Women; Active labor market policies; Gender diversity; Unemployment benefits; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
How Persistent are Climate-Related Price Shocks? Implications for Monetary Policy
Alain N. Kabundi
,
Mr. Montfort Mlachila
, and
Jiaxiong Yao
Climate change is likely to lead to more frequent and more severe supply and demand shocks that will present a challenge to monetary policy formulation. The main objective of the paper is to investigate how climate shocks affect consumer prices in a broad range of countries over a long period using local projection methods. It finds that the impact of climate shocks on inflation depends on the type and intensity of shocks, country income level, and monetary policy regime. Specifically, droughts tend to have the highest overall positive impact on inflation, reflecting rising food prices. Interestingly, floods tend to have a dampening impact on inflation, pointing to the predominance of demand shocks in this case. Over the long run, the dominant monetary policy paradigm of flexible inflation targeting faced with supply-induced climate shocks may become increasingly ineffective, especially in LIDCs. More research is needed to find viable alternative monetary policy frameworks.
Keywords:
climate change; monetary policy; monetary policy models; food price inflation drought; monetary policy paradigm; supply and demand shock; IMF working paper 22/207; IT country; Natural disasters; Inflation; Monetary policy frameworks; Global; Caribbean
Cover IMF Working Papers
Impact of COVID-19: Nowcasting and Big Data to Track Economic Activity in Sub-Saharan Africa
Brandon Buell
,
Reda Cherif
,
Carissa Chen
,
Jiawen Tang
, and
Nils Wendt
The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the critical need for detailed, timely information on its evolving economic impacts, particularly for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where data availability and lack of generalizable nowcasting methodologies limit efforts for coordinated policy responses. This paper presents a suite of high frequency and granular country-level indicator tools that can be used to nowcast GDP and track changes in economic activity for countries in SSA. We make two main contributions: (1) demonstration of the predictive power of alternative data variables such as Google search trends and mobile payments, and (2) implementation of two types of modelling methodologies, machine learning and parametric factor models, that have flexibility to incorporate mixed-frequency data variables. We present nowcast results for 2019Q4 and 2020Q1 GDP for Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Ghana, and argue that our factor model methodology can be generalized to nowcast and forecast GDP for other SSA countries with limited data availability and shorter timeframes.
Keywords:
model prediction; quantile plot; ML model; GDP YoY; data variable; YoY percent change; Factor models; Machine learning; Time series analysis; Spot exchange rates; Mobile banking; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Public Expenditure and Inclusive Growth - A Survey
Mr. Younes Zouhar
,
Jon Jellema
,
Nora Lustig
, and
Mohamed Trabelsi
This paper explores the role of public expenditure in fostering inclusive growth. It starts with a presentation of salient features of public expenditure. Then, it lays out an analytical framework that describes the channels through which public expenditure affects inequality and poverty in the short and long term. Based on a review of the empirical literature, it discusses the policy options. Finally, the paper assesses the role of key factors such as the initial conditions, and the institutions, in shaping the inclusive spending policies.
Keywords:
public expenditure; social spending; inclusive growth; inequality; poverty; mean inequality impact effectiveness; poverty rate; spending policy; policy option; Income inequality; Income; Global; Africa