IMF Working Papers

Private Savings and COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa

By Boileau Loko, Nelie Nembot, Marcos Poplawski Ribeiro

September 9, 2022

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Boileau Loko, Nelie Nembot, and Marcos Poplawski Ribeiro. Private Savings and COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2022) accessed September 21, 2024

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Summary

The paper reexamines the main private savings determinants in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), followed by an analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on private savings in SSA and other country groupings. Using an unbalanced panel data from 1983−2021 for 31 SSA economies, the paper finds that real per capita economic growth remains a key historical determinant of private savings in the region. In contrast with other regions, private saving rates have not increased during COVID-19 in SSA. Instead, COVID-19 deaths in our estimations are significantly associated with a decline in private savings in SSA. Robustness checks and a descriptive analysis of household surveys during the pandemic corroborate those results.

Keywords: COVID-19, Economic Growth, Private Savings, Sub-Saharan Africa

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    47

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

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  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 2022/176

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA2022176

  • ISBN:

    9798400219306

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941