Abstract

Savings as a tool for domestic capital accumulation in developing countries has come under serious consideration in economic and financial development. However, savings in Ghana is characterized by very low tendencies, irregular trend and unenthusiastic attitudes of citizens towards it at the micro and macro levels. This study examined the effect of economic factors, election spending and health financing scheme on aggregate savings in Ghana. Time series spanning from 1997 to 2012 was used. The Dickey-Fuller Generalised Least Squares (DF-GLS), Johansen Cointegration technique and Vector Error Correction method were used for data analysis.  The study revealed that the financial (interest rate spread and Treasury bill), and real sectors (GDP growth and international investment) and health financing scheme had significant effect in influencing aggregate savings in the long run. In addition to past savings, 91-day Treasury bill, age dependency and health financing scheme were short-run determinants of aggregate savings in Ghana although these dynamics were not immediate. As such, policies to influence aggregate savings should consider not only the financial instruments but also deal with the socio-demographic and the real sector dynamics of the economy as a whole in the intermediate to long-run basis.

Key words: Aggregate savings, socio-economic, election spending, cointegration, error correction, Ghana a.