EFFECTS OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION ON SELECTED MACROECONOMIC VARIABLES IN NIGERIA

Godfrey Chinweobi Ezenwakwelu

Abstract


This study assessed the effect of financial inclusion on economic growth, unemployment and human development in Nigeria for the period 2007 to 2015. The specific objectives were to determine the nature of the relationship between financial inclusion and gross domestic product; financial inclusion and level of unemployment; and financial inclusion and human development. The problem was that a large proportion of the adults in Nigeria do not have access to formal financial services despite efforts being made by various stakeholders, such as Central Bank of Nigeria, banks, and the Government. This study adopted an ex-post facto research design. The data for this study were obtained from secondary sources - IMF e-library, and World Development Indicators. Three models were specified and ordinary least squares regression technique was used to analyze the data with the aid of Eviews version 8 application software. The main findings were that no significant relationship existed between financial inclusion and gross domestic product while significant relationship existed between financial inclusion, unemployment and human development. The conclusions drawn from the study were that financial inclusion had an insignificant effect on GDP, very significant relationship with unemployment level and significant relationship with human development. The recommendations include creating deposit and borrowing windows at affordable costs to the poor and the unbanked group; making policy for improvement of collateral framework, as well as policy on financial literacy, training and empowerment among others.    


Keywords


financial inclusion, economic growth, unemployment, human development, and Nigeria

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