Problems of Financial Analysis in Institutional Lending Operations: Some Lessons from Tanzania

One of the biggest financial problems which was faced by institutional lenders (national and international) throughout the 1970s and 1980s was the accumulation of bad debts and related losses in their lending operations. This problem threatened the very existence and viability of lending institutions, especially in less developed countries like Tanzania, and exacerbated the already strained economic development process. A well known approach to reducing these losses is the judicious use of financial and economic information and analysis in the pre-investment or lending stage. This book identifies Tanzania as a typical less developed country having financial institutions faced by such problems in the 1970s and 1980s. It looks at the extent to which such information and analysis can be of assistance to money lenders or managers, looks at factors which delimit their usefulness and derives insights as well as lessons for the benefit of policy makers, national and international money lenders and managers and general readers interested in the viability and prosperity of financing business and economic activities in these economies.