Inclusive financial arrangement is becoming a policy issue in both developed and developing nations of the world as it has been perceived as a veritable tool for poverty alleviation and economic development. This paper examines the effects of financial inclusion on the economic growth of Nigeria (1982-2012). Data for the study are collected mainly from secondary sources such as Statistical Bulletins of the Central Bank of Nigeria (C.B.N.), Federal Office Of Statistics (F.O.S.) and World Bank. Employed data consist of such bank parametric as Branch Network, Loan to Rural Area, Demand Deposit, Liquidity Ratio, Capital adequacy, and Gross Domestic Product. Extracted data spanning about thirty-year period; 1982 to 2012 were related using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method (STATA 10). Tested hypothesis on Poverty Reduction found Loan to Rural Areas(LRA)Agric. Guaranty Fund (ACGSF)significant to Per Capital Income(PCI) (@5%)given t-stat2.82,p>t=4.85 while Financial Deepening(FDI) and Broad Money(FD2) also significantly influenced Economic Growth(Using GDP)with t-stats=3.61, 4.85 p>t=0.0013 and 0.000 respectively. Deposits From Rural Areas(DRA)as surrogate for financial inclusion is influenced by Loans to Rural Areas (LRA) and Small Scale Enterprise (LSSE)as surrogates for financial intermediation given t-stats=2.2 and2.9with p-values=0.03 and 0.007. The overall results of the regression analysis show that inclusive Bank financial activities greatly influenced poverty reduction(R2=0.74) but marginally determined national economic growth and Financial Intermediation through enhanced Bank Branch Networks, Loan To Rural Areas, and Loan To Small Scale Enterprise given about 50% relatedness between variables on either sides of the equations. Policy recommendations are made on the basis of these findings.
Keywords: Agricultural Guarantee Scheme Fund, Bank Branch Network, Financial Inclusion, Liquidity Ratio, Loan to Rural Area, economic growth
