Abstract
In today’s highly globalized and complex financial environment, it is crucial to examine the relationship between macroeconomic factors and the profitability of commercial banks. This paper investigates the impact of macroeconomic stability on the performance of commercial banks in Sri Lanka, arguing that such stability is particularly vital for the banking sector in this small economy. While the existing literature extensively explores both internal and external determinants of bank profitability, it predominantly focuses on developed nations. This study incorporates variables representing internal stability—economic growth, inflation rate, and interest rate—alongside the exchange rate as an external stability factor, all in relation to the profitability of commercial banks in Sri Lanka. The research framework is enriched by including non-performing loans as a mediating variable and bank size as a control variable, with return on equity used as a proxy for measuring profitability. Adopting a deductive approach, the study utilizes data from the annual reports of commercial banks and central bank publications for the period from 2010 to 2021, focusing on six systemically important banks based on asset holdings. The macro time series data is analyzed using a fixed random effects model. The results reveal that GDP growth, inflation rate, money supply, and bank size significantly positively impact bank profitability, while the exchange rate and non-performing loans exert a negative influence. This study concludes that enhancing bank profitability requires maintaining macroeconomic stability and outlines the policy challenges the Sri Lankan government must address to achieve such stability, ensuring the sustainability of the financial system.
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call