DETERMINANTS OF MORTGAGE LOAN REPAYMENT IN GHANA

The housing deficit in Ghana is an issue of concern for all. This study sought to analyse the determinants of the repayment of mortgage loans in Ghana. The study used both secondary and primary data. The mixed-method approach was used for the study. The data collection instruments were interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires. The study revealed that socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, sex distribution of respondents, educational level of respondents, marital status of respondents, occupational status of respondents, household size of respondents, the income of respondents are some of the factors that affect the repayment of mortgage loans in Ghana. The study revealed that borrowers who earned higher income had a better repayment performance as compared to low income earning borrowers. In addition, higher household sizes have lower repayment capacity and lower household sizes have higher repayment capacity. The study recommends that the government of Ghana should institute state bodies responsible for providing liquidity to mortgages and mortgage properties and buying mortgages during periods of rising interest rates is a way of creating a secondary mortgage market for the Ghanaian mortgage industry. Keywords: Determinants, Mortgage, Repayment, Ghana.

BEHAVIOUR OF STOCK MARKET DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE MALAYSIAN EXPERIENCE

The COVID-19 outbreak was triggered in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency in January 2020. The literature shows that the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the Malaysian economy. According to the World Bank, Malaysia GDP is USD336.7 bill in 2020, USD 364.7 bill in 2019, a USD28bill reduction or 7.67%. The Malaysian government is trying to address this scenario, it is important to establish and apply expansionary fiscal measures. The dread of the virus's danger has caused people to cease living, working, socializing, doing business, and the other normal activities. Economic consequences are very unclear, making it difficult to take adequate steps to reverse the downward economic trend. The present research analyses the potential economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Malaysian economy using a systematic review approach. Also, econometric study to determine the degree of integration between the FBMKLI and the COVID-19 daily infected cases. The findings show the relationship between COVID-19 infected cases and the performance of the FBMKLI. Keywords: COVID-19, FBMKLI, Correlation, Malaysia, Systematic Review, Granger causality.

TAX RISES IMPACT ON THE SPENDING PATTERN OF THE POPULATION IN GREATER ACCRA REGION OF GHANA

The study was aimed at examining the role of high tax rises on the spending patterns of the people in Accra township of Ghana. The research gathered data from both secondary and primary sources and used the quantitative research method approach. The key instruments used for the data collection was questionnaire. In all seventy (70) respondents were selected for the study comprising thirty five (35) people from Accra township and thirty five (35) University of Ghana students. The study found out that taxation is very good for nation building since the allocation of funds depends upon the collection of taxes and the government used that revenue for specific purposes. This has a direct economic impact on the socio economic development of Ghana. The study found out that there is a fairly strong relationship between people spending and high tax rises. That is to say the study found out that when tax is high it affects people spending negatively especially the poor because it reduces their income levels, put a tax burden on them, it increases their expenditure and it also increases poverty. The study found out that to be able to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in our tax system it is essential to strike the right balance between designing an attractive tax, there must be transparency and effectiveness in the tax system, tax reform needs to be promoted to widen the tax base and bring a larger part of the population into the formal economy and also tax must reduce excessive reliance on aid and offers a path away from unsustainable revenue streams It is recommended that the government of Ghana should structure the tax based system in a way that there is no inequality in the payment by the poor and the rich and also the people of Ghana should understand the importance of taxation for the development of Ghana and hence there should not be invasion of tax since tax brought to light the importance of tax. Keywords: Tax, Spending Pattern, Population, Greater Accra Region, Ghana.

CREDIT ACCESSING AND FAMILY FARMING: AN EVIDENCE FROM BURKINA FASO

This research focuses on the issue of financing family farms in Burkina Faso. To this end, a survey of 275 family farms was carried out in 2020. The research results revealed that the needs of family farms are not completely satisfied. The credits granted mainly concern small amounts. Productive investments which constitute medium and long-term investments capable of inducing significant improvements in agricultural production are almost unsatisfactory. Moreover, analyzes have shown that income determines access to credit. This factor reflects at a certain level the capacity of family farmers to provide the financial guarantees required by microfinance institutions. The current conditions of banks do not favor the development of the agricultural sector and the improvement of the living conditions of the populations in rural areas. It is, therefore, necessary to rethink the financing of agricultural activities and to define a long-lasting and sustainable financing mechanism. Keywords: Credit Accessing, Family Farming, Financing, Burkina Faso.

INTERNAL AUDIT AND QUALITY OF FINANCIAL REPORTING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: THE CASE OF UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Many corporate failures have occurred over the years as a result of poor financial reporting practices that have eluded investors and other consumers of financial data. The research used the University for Development Studies (UDS) as a case study. The study focused on three main goals: identifying emerging determinants of quality financial reporting, examining the efficacy and adequacy of UDS's internal control structure, and determining how much Internal Audit contributes to quality financial reporting. The research used a descriptive survey template and a sample size of 70 people who were chosen using purposive and stratified sampling techniques. To achieve objectives one and two, the analysis used binary regression, while to achieve objective three, the Best (2005) index was updated and used. Financial reporting accuracy, a computerized accounting system, and personnel competence were found to be determinants of quality financial reporting in the study. It was discovered that UDS' internal control system is ineffective since two of the five main components that make up an efficient internal control system, namely control environment and information and communication, are not properly implemented. The study found that UDS' internal audit reflects an average level of fraud prevention in terms of the robustness of auditing processes and fraud prevention indicators, with the remaining indicators indicating a high level of fraud prevention. Overall, UDS' internal auditing reveals a high degree of prevention. The University for Development Studies (UDS) should analyze, define, and enforce control setting, information, and communication components of the internal control system that are appropriate for their work processes, as well as enhance the existing components, according to the report. Keywords: Internal Audit, Financial Reporting, Public Sector, Ghana.

THE NATURE OF MORTGAGE REPAYMENT PLANS IN GHANA

Mortgage finance is one source of capital that cannot be ruled out when it comes to housing finance. It has globally aided many countries in terms of housing finance. A country’s housing finance system can work effectively if there is/are mortgage repayment plan(s) that would ensure flexibility in repayment of mortgage loans and encourage supply and demand for mortgage products. The study sought to find out the types and nature of mortgage repayment plans in Ghana. All the financial institutions which were into mortgage banking constituted the sample. The result shows that fixed rate method is the commonest method used in Ghana and other repayment plans have evolved from the fixed rate repayment plan. Exchange rate fluctuations, high interest rates and high house prices result in higher initial monthly mortgage repayment using the fixed rate repayment plan. It is recommended that mortgage lending institutions should reduce their interest rate for low middle income earners in Ghana to qualify for mortgage.

STUDY OF CONNECTION BETWEEN STOCK MARKET AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIAN CONTEXT

The focus of the study is to test the stock market performance influence on the economic growth for time series for the period of 2002 to 2018 on quarterly basis. In this study, the performance measures included standard deviation which is measure of volatility, total value traded shared as measure of liquidity, turnover ratio as measure of liquidity, and stock market capitalization ratio as a measure of the size. The focus of the study is the Malaysian stock exchange market. The study utilized real GDP as an indicator of economic growth. The exchange rate and the interest rates are used as control variables. The study used Vector Autoregressive model and the Granger causality test are utilized for finding the directional relationship between the stock market and economic growth connection. Results states that variables are statistically insignificant and there is no meaningful relationship found.

IMPORTANCE OF FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY IMPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONALS IN INDONESIA

The focus of the study was to test the financial technology for professionals and its influence on the financial system. The study notes that those professionals who fails to align with the ever-changing technology will not be able to survive their field. Therefore, it is recommended that professionals must be proactive to use financial technology. Furthermore, the regulators in particular field must be technologically inclined with regard to financial technology. Based on regulators pressure and personal motivation, the professionals and firms must take efforts to develop workers for financial technology such as data protections of customers. The government can also develop policies to boost financial technology in Indonesia.

BUBBLE PREDICTION AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EMERGING AND MATURE MARKETS

By analyzing the financial bubbles, it can be observed that every bubble burst causes financial turmoil and severe economic recession. The paper utilize the technical analysis indicators for providing warning conditions for predicting the stock market bubbles. The significance of the technical analysis indicators are that they can provide early warning system for financial crisis and can help in avoiding such problems. We applied the early warning technical indicators to the stock market of US, South Korea, Brazil, China, Germany, and Japan for the period of 1995 to 2018. We also made comparison of the bubble warning conditions of emerging markets and the mature markets. The standard bubble warning conditions include K value 90, Bias 10%, and RSI value of 90. Empirical results shows that mature market shows less degree of volatility and lowering the warning baseline can improve the accuracy of bubble predictions. Furthermore, results shows that mature markets bursting time is about 6 months while in emerging market, the time is reduced to only 3 months. These results also indicate that mature market has good antirisk ability compare to the emerging markets.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRUDE OIL PRICES AND STOCK MARKET: THE INDIAN CASE

Crude oil is influencing every productivity activity of human life either directly or indirectly. The prices of crude oil also influence the international financial markets. This influence connects the oil market with that of capital market since stock market provides it necessary resources for investment and financing the production. In this study, the objective was to test the relationship between crude oil prices and selected sectors of Indian economy. Furthermore, the study also tests the effects of international crude oil prices on the Indian stock exchange market. The main objective was to test the conditional correlation of the crude oil price and equity returns of selected sectors of the Indian economy as well as the performance indicators of the Indian stock market using bivariate volatility models.