The issue as to whether the interest rate influences the demand for money in developing countries is still controversial. The aim of this study is to attempt to resolve this controversy. The study uses panel data from eight African countries to look at the interest elasticity of demand for money in developing countries. The countries used in the study are Angola (ANG), Equatorial Guinea (EQG), Gambia (GMB), Guinea-Bissau (GBS), Kenya (KNY), Mali (MLI), Nigeria (NGR) and Uganda (UGD). Overall, the study finds the interest rate to be inelastic in the short run but elastic in the long run. This finding suggests that monetary policy is ineffective in developing countries in the long run.

Volatilities in the interest rate and the exchange rate cause instability in money demand functions. This study investigates the effect of interest and exchange rates volatilities on money demand in developing countries using time series data of four African countries namely, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Nigeria and Uganda. The model used is a conventional log linear money demand function, with money demand specified as a function of income, interest rate, inflation rate, exchange rate, interest rate volatility and exchange rate volatility. The results show that on the whole the interest rate and exchange rate volatilities do not have significant effects on money demand in developing countries. However, the money demand functions of these economies prove unstable. These findings imply that the monetary authorities should resort to inflation targeting monetary policy and employ the interest rate as the policy instrument.

Policymakers need a clear understanding of their monetary transmission mechanisms for effective implementation of monetary policy. The aim of this study is to carry out an econometric analysis of the channels of monetary transmission mechanism in less developed economies so as to determine their effectiveness. The study uses Ghana macroeconomic data and finds the money supply channel to be the strongest in the long run while the exchange rate channel seems the strongest in transmitting monetary impulses in the short run. The interest rate and the bank credit to private sector channels emerge as very weak channels of monetary transmission.

Monetary policy decisions usually follow a policy rule which shows a consistent response of policy instruments to variations in inflation and economic growth. The aim of this study is to establish the nature of monetary policy in developing countries through the analysis of policy reaction functions. This study uses macroeconomic data from Ghana, a typical developing country. The study employs the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares Estimation techniques and finds the central bank to follow a backward-looking Taylor rule. The evidence is that the central bank follows some form of policy rule and focuses more on past inflation relative to current or expected inflation. The results also indicate that the Bank of Ghana has been pursuing inflation targeting monetary policy. The central bank follows an inflation targeting rule allowing for output stabilisation. The exchange rate also plays a role in this stabilization effort.

The linear specification of the ideal monetary policy reaction function has been questioned in recent times by researchers. They have suggested a nonlinear framework where central banks exhibit asymmetric behaviours. Despite the important policy implications of having asymmetric central bank preferences, studies have been on single-country basis focusing almost entirely on advanced economies. The aim of this study is to check the existence of asymmetric preferences on the part of central banks in the context of a panel of countries and not just a single country. The study derives and estimates a nonlinear flexible optimal monetary policy rule, which permits zone-like as well as asymmetric behaviours using panel data from a range of countries both developed and less developed. Although the findings indicate the presence of asymmetric preferences on the output gap across less developed countries, generally, the evidence is in favour of a linear policy reaction function and symmetric central bank preferences. These findings mean that monetary policy is characterised by a linear policy rule and symmetric central bank preferences. The results also indicate that interest rate "smoothing" reaction by monetary authorities is more pronounced in less developed countries than in developed ones.