Banking Sector Reforms and the Performance of Banking Business in Nigeria – An Econometric Analysis (Published)
The study examines the effect of financial reforms on banking sector efficiency in Nigeria from 1986- 2016. The objective of the study is to evaluate the extent to which exchange rate, (EXCH), interest rate (INT) and liquidity (LQT) have affected the efficiency of banking operations in Nigeria. The dependent variable in measuring banking sector efficiency is proxy by Nonperforming Loan (NPL). The OLS regression was adopted for test of the three hypotheses formulated. The findings indicate that financial reform targets have significantly affected banking sector efficiency in Nigeria in the long run. The study recommends that the regulatory and supervisory framework should be strengthened while interest rate policy should be made to stimulate savings through high real deposit rate and lending rate so as to promote financial deepening and thus banking efficiency.
Keywords: Banking Efficiency., Exchange Rate, Interest Rate, Liquidity, financial reforms