Financial flexibility is defined as the capability to respond cost-effectively to changes in the business environment and to adapt to the impact of these changes on organizational goals. In the context of banks, financial flexibility refers to the ability to adjust policies and manage financial resources to maintain performance amidst economic shocks and environmental fluctuations. The primary aim of this research is to identify and rank the dimensions and components of financial flexibility in banks using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This study is classified as applied-developmental in terms of its objective and descriptive-survey (Delphi) in terms of data collection methodology.

An exploratory review of specialized literature was conducted, followed by the development of a questionnaire to collect insights from banking experts on financial flexibility in banks. The validity of the theoretical framework and the components of financial flexibility were scrutinized and evaluated. Through expert consensus and statistical tests, including mean, one-sample t-test, and Kendall's coefficient of concordance, nine components were identified: liquidity, capital adequacy, banking competitiveness, profitability, asset quality and financial structure, management stability and sustainability, sensitivity of operations to market risk, banking risks, and market size, along with 62 indicators for measuring these components.

The AHP method was employed for ranking the components, and the results demonstrated that liquidity had the highest rank with a score of 0.252, whereas the sensitivity of operations to market risk had the lowest rank with a score of 0.041. Furthermore, the findings indicated that internal dimensions within banks play a more critical role in financial flexibility compared to external dimensions.

Keywords: Banking Financial Flexibility, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Liquidity, Capital Adequacy, Banking Competitiveness, Profitability, Banking Risks, Market Size.

JEL Classification: D53, C23, G21