Determinants of non-performing loans in banking sector in small developing island states: A study of Fiji

Kumar, Ronald R. and Stauvermann, P.J. and Patel, Arvind and Prasad, Selvin (2018) Determinants of non-performing loans in banking sector in small developing island states: A study of Fiji. Accounting Research Journal, 31 (2). pp. 192-213. ISSN 1030-9616

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Abstract

The banking sector stability depends in large part on the size of non-performing loans (NPLs). Hence, the factors which explain the problem loans are very useful information for banks. Notably, studies in this regard with respect to the small developing countries’ banking sector have received less attention. Therefore, this study aims to examine the determinants of NPLs with a case of Fiji’s banking sector, over the period 2000-2013.

Design/methodology/approach
The balanced sample consists of the entire banking sector (five commercial banks and two non-bank financial institutions). First, the authors estimate a base model which comprise bank-specific indicators that are related to bank management and then they extend the estimations to include macroeconomic/structural factors such as economic growth, inflation, changes of the real effective exchange rate, unemployment, remittances, political instability and external events like the global financial crisis. The estimations are done using pooled OLS, the random effects and the fixed effects regression methods.

Findings
The results show that the following indicators have negative association with NPL and are statistically significant with the conventional levels: return on equity, capital adequacy requirement, market share based on assets, unemployment and time. On the other hand, the net interest margin has a positive and statistically significant association with NPL.

Research limitations/implications
Subsequently, the stability of the banking sector in small developing countries such as Fiji is largely dependent on banks’ profitability, solvency, size in terms of market share and the presence of a learning curve and keeping a close tab on the interest rate spread between loans and deposits.

Practical implications
The paper highlights the specific factors determining NPL in small developing economy of Fiji.

Originality/value
This study is the first to examine specific factors determining NPLs with respect to small developing economies in the Oceania region.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5601 Accounting H Social Sciences > HG Finance
Divisions:	Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) > School of Accounting and Finance Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE)
Depositing User:	Ronald Kumar
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2018 04:29
Last Modified:	04 Oct 2018 04:29
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/11026

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