Impact of Interest Rate in the Economy from the Viewpoints of Banking Managers: Empirical Evidence from Jordan

The research aims at investigating the role, impact and determinants of interest rate in Jordanian economy from view points of banking managers in Jordan. The methodology is descriptive and analytical using mean, standard deviation, t-test and percentages as statistical tools. The study concludes that the role of interest rate in Jordanian monetary policy is restricted by two factors: pegging JD with US$ which limits the effective role of interest rate in Jordanian monetary policy and the dual banking system of traditional and Islamic banks where Islamic banks do not deal with Interest rate. Raising interest rate in Jordan caused higher cost of credit for companies, less competitiveness of exports, less liquidity in the economy, higher profit margin for banks, higher exchange rate of JD and higher inflation. Nevertheless, lowering interest rate in Jordan caused lower cost of borrowing, higher liquidity, better competitiveness of exports and more credit facilities by banks but inflation was much lower. Moreover, the study concluded the determinants of interest rate in Jordan are money supply, demand for money, inflation and economic conditions. In order to have an effective role for interest rate in monetary policy, the researcher recommends pegging JD to a basket of currencies.