Banking Market Integration in the SADC Countries: Evidence from Interest Rate Analyses

This study investigates the state, development and drivers of banking market integration in the member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of national retail interest rates indicates increasing integration in loan and deposit markets. These integration processes are not developing uniformly and we can identify a convergence club. When investigating the interest rate pass-through from central bank onto retail rates for this convergence club, we find both, genuine and monetary-integration driven processes though the latter dominate. We thus conclude that a selective expansion of the Common Monetary Area (CMA) is possible.