THE GROWTH IMPACT OF SMES FINANCING BY DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA

I. A. OGBUJI; E. S. ONWUEMELE; E. S ONWUEMELE; A. S. BELLO

I. A. OGBUJI Department of Finance, University of Lagos, Nigeria
E. S. ONWUEMELE Department of Finance, University of Lagos, Nigeria
E. S ONWUEMELE Department of Finance, University of Lagos, Nigeria
A. S. BELLO Department of Banking and Finance, Covenant University, Ogun State

Keywords: SMEs financing, Deposit money banks, Growth impact, Credit to the private sector

Abstract

The aim of this article was to assess the impact on the growth of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) financing in Nigeria (via deposit money banks). Numerous empirical studies on SMEs have been conducted previously, but only a few have looked at the impact of deposit money bank lending on SMEs in Nigeria. Thirty-four years of statistics were culled from the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) Bulletin (2020). The data were analyzed using regression models. The findings indicate that the financing of SMEs by deposit money banks has a positive and significant effect on Nigeria's economic growth. Additionally, the monetary policy rate, inflation rate, and interest rate all contributed negatively to GDP during the study period, whereas credit to the private sector and credit to SMEs all contributed positively to real gross domestic product. Nigeria's monetary authority is proposed to ensure that bank loans are carefully reviewed in order to ensure that money reaches money users in the private sector with less reliance on collateral, thereby boosting the country's economy. The monetary authority (CBN) should also take steps to influence the interest rate regime downward and moderate the monetary policy rate in order to subdue their downside risk to both SMEs growth and economic growth ( in the light of COVID-19's detrimental effect on SMEs in Nigeria and the world over).