Bank Ownership Types and Liquidity Creation: Evidence from Ghana

In this study, we examine bank liquidity creation and the effect of ownership types on liquidity creation in Ghana for the first time. The study employs data on 26 banks obtained from Bank of Ghana between 2006 and 2016. Three panel estimation strategies including two-step GMM, Hausman-Taylor and Fixed effect models are employed to arrive at the findings. Employing the narrow liquidity creation computation approach, the results show that average bank liquidity created within the 11-year period consistently increased over the period and reported the highest liquidity created in 2016. Interestingly, when considering bank ownership types, listed, state-owned and foreign-owned banks report the highest average liquidity created compared to their unlisted, privately owned and locally owned counterparts, respectively. Employing regression models, the study finds that foreign and privately owned banks are less likely to create more liquidity compared to their locally and state-owned bank counterparts implying that state-owned and locally owned (domestic) banks create more liquidity. These results imply that while there is much room for creating more liquidity, policymakers may hasten liquidity creation through locally and state-owned banks and at the same time designing policies that entice foreign and privately owned banks to create more liquidity which is good for economic growth.