Bank Heterogeneity in Interest Rate Pass-Through: A Panel Evidence from Pakistan

Abstract

This article examines the role of bank-level characteristics in determining the nature of interest rate pass-through from monetary policy rates to commercial banks’ lending rates in Pakistan. Several bank-level factors, namely market size, liquidity, capitalisation, profitability, and competition level, were used in analysing the pass-through mechanism. This study utilised a dynamic heterogeneous panel technique, namely the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimation for the sample of 12 private commercial banks, over the time span 2003:Q2 to 2015:Q4. Banks of smaller size, large capital, and higher liquidity were significantly affecting the interest rate pass-through procedure. Thus, to improve monetary policy’s transmission mechanism, Pakistan’s central bank should limit bank capitalisation and draw out excess liquidity from the banking sector.