Prime Nyamoya

We study the performance of the financial system in Burundi in mobilizing and allocating resources using a blend of methodological approaches drawing from: (1) industrial organization in examining the banking sector structure, and the behavior and profitability of financial intermediaries; (2) macroeconomic analysis with a focus on the effect of economic performance and policy framework on financial sector performance; and (3) political economy analysis highlighting the role of political governance and political instability, as well as ownership of financial institutions on allocative and distributional inefficiencies. We find that the core of the financial sector that has survived the worst of the economic and political crises of the last decades is highly profitable. Bank profitability h...

This study investigates the performance of the financial system in Burundi in mobilizing and allocating resources. Although the study does not presume that finance is the most binding constraint to growth and socio-economic development in Burundi, it takes the view that unlocking the financing constraint could alleviate other impediments to growth and poverty reduction. We use a blend of methodological approaches drawing from: (1) industrial organization in examining the structure of the banking sector, and the behavior and profitability of financial intermediaries; (2) macroeconomic analysis with a focus on the effect of economic performance and policy framework on the performance of the financial sector; and (3) political economy analysis highlighting the role of political governance and...