Theoretical and Applied Economics (Jun 2016)
An empirical investigation of banking sector development and economic growth in a panel of selected SAARC countries
Abstract
This study examine the relationship between banking sector development and economic growth in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) over the period of 1980-2013 by entailing ordinary least square (OLS), two stages least square (TSLS), and panel TSLS fixed-effect model. Key banking sector development variables include money and quasi money (RQM) and domestic credit to private sector by banks (PC) have a positive and statistically robust effect on economic growth in all models. The study concludes that no economy can develop without a substantial growth in the banking sector and it is important to have a sound and rigorous banking system for building a sustained economic growth. Therefore, the SAARC economies are suggested to focus on the development of the banking sector for their long run growth.
