Interest rate and stock market returns in Namibia

Abstract

This paper analyses the causal relationship between interest rate and stock market return in Namibia for the period 1996 to 2012. The analysis was done through cointegrated vector autoregression methods. The analysis reveals that there is a negative relationship between stock market returns and interest rates in Namibia. Causality test indicates that there is bi-directional causality between stock market returns and interest rate in Namibia. The results suggest that contractionary monetary policy through higher interest rate decreases stock market returns in Namibia.