Bank credit and transmission mechanisms of monetary policy in Uganda

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Abstract. This paper examines the effect of monetary policy on bank credit in Uganda during the January 2008 to December 2017 period. By using macro level monthly data, it tests for the existence of monetary policy transmission channels, in particular the presence of bank credit channel in the economy of Uganda. This is done by showing that bank credit growth in Uganda is affected by monetary policy shocks. Before conducting data analysis, tight bank credit models were built with the view of making the analysis mimic the actual behavior of bank credit and the monetary policy transmission mechanism. Data used in the empirical analysis are from Bank of Uganda. Empirical analysis is conducted by using the generalized least squares (GLS) technique. The advantage with the GLS method is that it is generally more efficient because it eliminates both serial correlation and variance values that are not constant. The empirical results establish presence of the bank credit channel of the monetary policy transmission mechanism in Uganda. Secondly, the empirical tests conducted establish that the relationship between reserves and loans typically operates in the reverse way to that described in some economics textbooks. Similarly, the relationship between bank deposits and bank deposits is found in principle to operate only during the current month in the reverse way to that described in some economics textbooks. Thirdly, empirical tests conducted indicate that 1 percent increase in money supply (M2) is responsible for causing 2.2 percent monthly increase in bank deposits in Uganda during the sample period, ceteris paribus. Keywords. Financialization, Political economy, Financial regulation. JEL. C01, C10, G18, P16, P34.