Assessing the Impact of Liquidity on Profitability: Specific to the Banking Industry of Bangladesh

Purpose: The present study investigates whether liquidity positively or negatively stimulates the profitability of commercial banks of Bangladesh. Methodology: The analysis has been performed on 5 randomly selected banks over a period of 10 years (2011-2020). The respective banks’ annual reports were the sources of secondary data based on which the study has been performed. For study purpose, dominant profitability ratios are studied along with the calculation of liquidity. ROA served profitability measures being considered as dependent variables whereas Loan-Deposit, Deposit-Assets, & Cash-Deposit ratios served liquidity measures being considered as independent variables. Ordinary Least Square Models have been made use of testing how liquidity affects the banking sector’s profitability. Findings: From the analysis, it is founded that a rise in the banks’ aforementioned liquidity ratio would escalate the Return on Assets i.e. profitability. Practical Implications: The study has evident that commercial banks of Bangladesh might have a better balance between the profitability and liquidity. Originality: The impact of liquidity on profitability has been stated in this paper which considered data from randomly selected 5 banks. The outcomes of the paper will demonstrate valuable addition to the existing research work in the related field. Research Limitations: Only 5 randomly selected commercial banks among 61 scheduled banks of Bangladesh were the study samples for which the overall financial scenario is difficult to know. It is also quite impossible to comment on the liquidity and profitability position as well as their relationship by considering only 5 banks.