FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The major objective of the study is to examine the effects of financial inclusion on economic growth in Nigeria 2007 - 2023. The study specific objectives were to ascertain the extent loan granted to customers affect economic growth in Nigeria and to determine the extent deposit with banks affect economic growth of Nigeria. The scope of the study covered the period of 2007 to 2023. The study employed secondary data sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX). The study adopted ex-post facto research design and ordinary least square (OLS) estimation technique in the analysis and test of the hypotheses. The result reveals that loan granted to customers has significant positive effect on economic growth in Nigeria for the period of the study and that there exists insignificant negative effect of deposit with banks on economic growth in Nigeria. This study therefore concludes that financial inclusion has significant effect on economic growth in Nigeria for the period under review and recommended as follow: that banks should sustain their credit activities as it will both improve their financial performance as well as affect economic growth of Nigeria, that banks should initiate deposit incentives to entice their customers, that banks should pursue the goal of spreading their branches as it will enhance inclusion policy of the government and improve economic growth of Nigeria. Finally, campaign for mobile banking services in Nigeria should be strategized by banks as it is capable of boasting financial inclusion and economic growth of Nigeria.