Banking Reforms And The Price Of Loanable Funds In Nigeria
Collins C. Umeghalu
Department of Economics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
Chika P. Imoagwu
Department of Economics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
Vincent C. Okafor
Department of Economics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
Johnpaul S. Ezeoke
Department of Economics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
Keywords: Banking reform, Banking Loan, Price
Abstract
Puzzled by the persistent difficulty accessing loanable funds are fraught with as evidenced by the high rate of interest, the study attempts to determine if increase in income aside banking reforms could make the price of loanable funds more affordable. The Ordinary Least Squares technique was used to analyze the time series data used in the study which spans from 1980 – 2018. While the rate of interest was used to measure the price of loanable funds, GDP per capita, rate of inflation and exchange rate were used to capture the impact of average income. The result of the study shows that exchange rate and inflation rate share positive relationships with interest rate while per capita GDP shares a negative relationship with interest rate. While the estimated impacts of exchange rate and inflation rate on interest rate are significant, the estimated impact of per capita income on interest rate is insignificant. The study recommends increase in income level, stabilization of exchange rate and reduction of the rate of inflation as means of extending the improvement in availability of loanable funds derived from banking sector reforms to improved accessibility