Interest Rate and Growth Nexus in Nigeria: The ARDL – Bound Test Approach

This study examined the effect interest rate on economic growth in Nigeria. Augmented Dickey – Fuller (ADF), Bound Test and Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) were employed to examine the effect of impact of interest rate on economic growth in Nigeria. The unit root test showed gross domestic product was 1(0) while interest rate, investment and gross capital formation were 1(1). The result of the Bound Test indicated long run relationship among the macroeconomic variables employed in the study. The result of the ARDL indicated that interest rate had negative effect on economic growth both in short run and long run. However, in the long run investment and gross capital formation were established to have positive effect on economic growth with gross capital formation being insignificant. It was concluded that interest rate has a macroeconomic tool is not effective in stimulating economic growth in Nigeria. It was recommended that the level of interest rate should be adequately controlled for the purpose of stimulating economic growth without inflationary pressure. Finally, robust macroeconomic policies aimed at ensuring economic stability should be formulated in order to increase capital formation and attract investment in order to promote economic growth