FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF RELIGIOUS HEALTH INSTITUTIONS IN MALAWI
Loading...
Date
2025-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN AFRICA
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of Financial Risk Management practices on financial performance of religious health institutions in Malawi. The specific objectives for this study were: to assess the influence of liquidity risk management, credit risk management, foreign exchange risk management, and operational risk management, on the financial performance of religious health institutions in Malawi. The study was guided by the Agency, Stakeholder, Resource Dependence, and Expected Utility theories. The study adopted a descriptive research design while utilizing quantitative data. A census survey was carried on 23 Malawian hospitals under the Christian Health Association of Malawi. Primary and secondary data was collected using questionnaires and record survey sheets respectively. The collected data was analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Multiple regression analyses were applied to the data to determine the influence of the various aspects of FRM practices on the financial performance of Religious Health Institutions in Malawi. These were then presented in graphs, tables and pie charts. The results from the study showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between all the independent variables (liquidity risk management, credit risk management, foreign exchange risk management, and operational risk management) and the dependent variable (financial performance). All the null hypotheses in this study were rejected. The overall model was tested using the F-test at 5 % significance level. The results of analysis revealed higher inter-correlation between the independent variables and the overall model showed that there was significant correlation between FRM practices and financial performance (p-value 0.049<0.05). The study makes the following recommendations: Religious Health Institutions in Malawi should fully embrace FRM practices; CHAM should put in place policies which would steer the religious health institutions to fully embrace FRM practices; and, individual institutions should set aside resources for the better implementation of FRM policies set up by CHAM. The importance of this study is that its findings provide policy makers in religious health institutions in Malawi with an insight into the value of a full and robust adoption of FRM practices in that full adoption of FRM practices enhances organisational performance.
Description
Thesis
Keywords
Financial risk management, financial performance, healthcare finance, financial sustainability, risk mitigation strategies.