IMPACT OF IMF LENDING ANNOUNCEMENTS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF STOCK MARKET: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM PAKISTAN

Abstract

Purpose of the study: Stock markets have demonstrated varying reactions to IMF lending announcements across various economies. Announcements offered by IMF often be perceived negatively by the participants of the stock market, because of stringent conditions accompanied with the loan that may oppose the political and economic agenda of a borrowing nation. Thus, this study intends to investigate the impact of IMF’s announcements about extending loans to Pakistan on the performance of the Stock market in the debt-ridden economy. Methodology: For regular returns from 1997 to 2017, the benchmarking indexes of KSE-100 and 30 were used. Meanwhile, IMF lending arrangements are categorized into three respective dummies (standby, extended credit facility, and extended fund facility). The Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH) model was used to investigate the effect of IMF’s lending news on the regular stock returns. Main findings: The results show a statistically significant effect of the IMF’s News about lending arrangements on the performance of the stock market in Pakistan. Surprisingly, the negative effect of IMF lending announcements on the performance of the stock market in Pakistan implies that the loans extended by IMF are not professed by speculators as good for the economic performance of the economy. Application of this study: The findings of this study imply that simply extending loans is not a panacea for politically unstable and financially ruined nations. Lending strategies of IMF need to be favourable for the political and economic conditions of a borrowing country. Originality/ Novelty: As for as the novelty is concerned, the study has highlighted the time-varying impact of IMF lending announcements on the performance of the stock market in a financially fragile country where a newborn government facing multiple challenges has made its best effort to avoid borrowing from IMF.