The impact of inclusive finance on economic growth in Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the impact of inclusive financing on Nigeria's economic growth between 2001 and 2021. Financial inclusion helps to decrease poverty and the enhancement of living conditions, making it an important indicator of economic growth in emerging nations. The unit root test result and Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test (ADF) revealed that the series becomes stationary after the first difference, making it suitable for additional Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression model was employed, cointegration test with Johansen's formula, Cointegration and causality tests were conducted using the Granger causality techniques. According to Johansen's cointegration, the series exhibit cointegration. This indicates the presence of a lasting connection between economic growth and financial inclusion. Using Granger causality tests, it was discovered that the indices of financial inclusion and Nigeria economic growth had a statistically significant causal relationship. This further provides the suggestion that financial inclusion significantly contributes to the economic growth of Nigeria. In addition, financial inclusion has a significant relationship with economic growth. The coefficient of determination (R-squared = 0.6962) implies that the indices of financial inclusion can account for almost 69.6 per cent of the variance in economic growth. It has been demonstrated that financial inclusion contributes favorably to economic growth and national development in Nigeria. The results also revealed that the Number of Deposit Money Banks Branches (NDMBB) coefficient (= -0.683), for every thousand increases in NDMBB, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth will decrease by 0.683, which is consistent with the actual situation on ground. The result of the study supports the hypothesis that monetary policy would be more effective if it promote more financial inclusion. The study therefore recommends that to achieve the desired level of money supply, the monetary authorities must implement policies to ensure that a substantial proportion of the money supply is made up of the currency in circulation. This will reduce the quantity of money held outside of banks. For economic growth to continue, rural bank branches should be encouraged to make loans to private businesses and small- and medium-sized enterprises.