Does Bank Size Matter on Performance and Liquidity Risk Management? Evidence From Commercial Banks in Tanzania

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between risk management and performance based on the size of commercial banks in Tanzania. Specifically, the study aims to determine the effect of liquid asset/Total asset ratio on Return on asset (ROA). Data employed were extracted from audited financial statement report. The explanatory variables were liquid asset/Total asset ratio while the dependent variable was financial performance measured by return on asset. Panel data of 23 commercial banks for the period of five years (2017 to 2021) was employed. Fixed and random model was adopted in analyzing the data. Findings highlight that the impact of liquid asset/Total asset on performance varies among commercial banks, with large banks showing insignificant positive relationship, while medium and small banks exhibit weak but significant negative relationship. This implies that maintaining more liquid assets compared to total assets provides a certain level of risk management capability though it may lead to relatively small returns to small and medium commercial banks. As far as large banks are concerned the relationship does not lead low return Therefore, the study recommends that banks should establish optimal size of liquidity to maximize returns and invest excess liquidity in higher-yielding assets or where additional income can be generated without significantly increasing risk. Regulatory authorities may need to consider different liquidity risk management policies depending on the size of the bank, such as tailoring the policies to ensure that the proportion of liquid assets is appropriate and reflect size of the bank. Consequently, it may help small banks and medium avoid excessive liquid assets which can negatively impact their financial performance.