This paper studies implications of intermediation costs in credit markets. The presence of intermediation costs increases the amount of risky projects therefore results in financial fragility. Moreover, for an open economy that has a perfectly liberal capital account, prudent firms finance their...

We discuss issues of real estate price bubble, the extent of wealth effects, affordability, financial deepening and credit market risks. Our simulations indicate that given current wealth levels, cost of credit and maturity, average homes are not affordable by average consumers. The market...

Using a unique bank-level dataset on the Ugandan banking system over the period 1999 to 2005, we explore the factors behind consistently high interest rate spreads and margins. While foreign banks charge lower interest rate spreads, we do not find a robust and economically significant...