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This paper focuses on a classic policy trade-off by unraveling the role of financial deregulation in driving financial stability and exploring how the role of regulatory quality can affect this relationship. To this end, this study uses a balanced panel dataset of 73 countries across a period of ten years starting from 2014. The empirical specification utilizes a two-step System GMM approach, accounting for both endogeneity, unobserved heterogeneity issues, and persistence in financial stability. Specifically, financial stability is measured by non-performing loans (NPLs), which represent the level of risk exposure of national banking sectors. The findings reveal that financial freedom leads to higher level of financial instability, proving theoretical predictions of the excessive risk-taking behavior of lending institutions encouraged with financial deregulation. Furthermore, the interaction term between financial freedom and regulatory quality is statistically significant, suggesting that financial deregulation can be compensated by the quality of regulatory environment. The role of the GDP per capita variable used for stabilizing the findings is significant as it represents the resilience of more developed economies. The implications of the results are complex. In a more institutional context, this finding suggests that financial stability is not a direct function of financial freedom but is conditional on institutional capability. Hence, high regulatory quality can mitigate the instability caused by financial freedom, thereby enabling a balanced approach.

The banking sector in Sri Lanka has been portrayed by significant changes in the past few decades. It is widely perceived that competition in the Sri Lankan banking sector has improved since the introduction of the financial sector reforms in the 1990s. By applying Panzar-Rosse (PR) approach to test the degree of competitiveness, this paper assesses the validity of this claim in the context of the Sri Lankan banking sector during 1996-2018. The sample covers a broader set of bank-level panel data of the whole commercial banking sector which comprised of 25 licensed commercial banks. The EGLS procedure applied in this study revealed that during the stated period, the Sri Lankan banking sector had been moderately competitive.  Further analysis also disclosed that there is no significant difference between the state-owned banks and private banks regarding their degree of competitiveness, as well as their temporal dynamics. Another striking observation revealed in this analysis is the lower level of competitiveness among foreign banks compared to the competitiveness of local banks. The Competitiveness of the Sri Lankan banking sector however is characterized by non-price competition, as on many occasions the interest rate depends on government policies. Hence, this study provides new insight into the nature of financial sector competitiveness in underdeveloped countries. The outcome of the research implies the necessity of attempts of all banks towards re-aligning their strategies to attract and retain customers. This would be the major challenge that banks face in accomplishing a higher level of competition in the banking industry in the future.   

Despite core banking, banks also engage in off-balance-sheet (OBS) market activities. In many developed banking industries, OBS activities have grown to be significant during the last two decades. This paper provides rather scarce evidence on the competitiveness among banks for OBS activities and its impact on the degree of banking sector competition in Sri Lanka. Panzar-Ross H statistic approach employing in this study to estimate bank competition used a comprehensive set of bank-level data of the whole commercial banking sector in Sri Lanka covering the period 1996-2018. The first-round analysis of the study uncovers substantial differences among banks concerning the OBS activities. EGLS panel estimation procedure applied in this study provides evidence for a lower level of competitiveness among Sri Lankan banks for OBS activities. More interestingly, the findings further reveal that the degree of competitiveness for OBS activities has a significant positive impact on the overall competitiveness of the banking sector in Sri Lanka.  These results suggest banking institutions re-visit their business models with greater emphasis on nonconventional banking activities in enhancing bank-level efficiency and hence positively contributing to the overall competitiveness of the banking sector.

This paper provides rather scares evidence on the nexus between bank competition and economic growth in a unique developing economy; Sri Lanka for the period 1996-2018. The effect of competition in the Sri Lankan banking sector on economic growth, and the mechanisms through which competition affects growth are analyzed in the present paper. The VEC model used in this study was aimed at capturing independently the short and long-term effect of bank competition on economic growth. The competition is measured with Pazar-Ross H- Statistics. Contrary to the common wisdom, the study found evidence for negative effects of bank competition, on economic growth in the short run. However, in the long run, this effect is strong and positive. Further, the statistical results of this paper revealed that higher bank competition channels economic growth through interest rate and bank efficiency. These findings have important policy implications as it gives great insight into the complexity of competition related conduct in developing countries.

This paper provides interesting insights into the practices of banks and institutional setting in Sri Lanka. The sustainability and stability of banks that makes up an economy’s banking system should be sound at all time. This paper aimed at analyzing the determinants of banking sector stability in Sri Lanka. The study used a broad set of macro and bank level data covering 22 commercial banks for the period 1996-2016. The fixed effect GLS panel data model tested in this paper sets the relationship between bank stability measure; Z-score and business environment which includes bank characteristics and the elements of macro environment. The analysis of the study revealed lower level of Z-scores and thus lower level of bank stability, indicating a higher risk associated with the commercial banking sector in Sri Lanka.  From among the variables tested, strong evidence was found for a positive effect of bank efficiency on bank stability and a negative effect of credit growth on bank stability. At macro level, bank stability is promoted at a higher rate when the economy is more developed and stable. The results imply that efficiency of commercial banks needs to be further improved and regulatory and policy environment should be strengthened to manage the credit growth at the bank level. Further, it is suggestive to strengthening bank supervision and other financial infrastructure in order to ensure sustainability of the banking sector. Thus, the present paper contributes the current banking literature by unveiling the explicit and unforeseen economic implications associate with individual bank operations and macro imbalance which are particularly unique in underdeveloped countries.