Comparative use of monetary policy tools in African economies with particular reference to Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Abstract

The economies of Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe have generally been considered as being in the forefront of African countries. Their monetary system in particular have been included among the most sophisticated in the developing countries and hence have attracted the greatest interest from students of comparative banking and financial systems. Thus, there have been, in the last several years, a number of studies on the financial systems of the three economies. These studies are, however, often focused on the institutional features of the financial systems rather than on the actual behavioral characteristics of the systems themselves. This paper intends to fill that gap to some extent by examining monetary policy activities in the three countries, with emphasis on the comparative use of various monetary policy instruments. The paper is divided into three parts and begins in part 1 with a brief summary of the institutional features of the Nigerian, Zimbabwean and Kenyan financial systems. Part 2 is a comparative discussion of the various techniques of monetary policy in Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Kenya. Part 3 is a brief summary and conclusion.