CHAPTER ONE 1.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND An economy whether developing or
developed is out to achieve certain objectives which include growth in
the gross domestic product, reduction in the relit of inflation and
unemployment, favorable balance of payment, and long term Socio-economic
development. The growth of output of any economy depends on Capital
accumulation; and capital accumulation requires investment and an
equivalent amount of saving to match it. Two of the most important
issues in development economics, and tor developing countries, are how
to stimulate investment, and how to bring about an increase in the level
of saving 10 fund increased investment. To this end. many less
developed countries' government have made it a point of duties to ensure
proper mobilization of domestic funds by manipulating both fiscal and
monetary policy as a tool to achieve their set objectives For many
countries, financial sector and balance of payment liberalizations have
broadened access to foreign capital to finance domestic investment.
However, many developing economies, in part because of their high level
of external indebtedness cannot benefit from foreign sources of capital.
For men. domestic savings remains the main source of funds to finance
development and to promote economic growth. However, due to low income
per head in less developed countries, a perception that poor people are
too poor to save has been prevailing for a long time and most financial
institutions still do not cater to this type of clients. It is clear
that poor
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people's savings constitutes a potentially substantial
source of savings and lapping into that source of funds is essential
However in mobilization of saving, determinants such as income level,
interest rates, economic growth level, inflation rate, fiscal balance,
external debt, among other have come to play important roles. If
developing economies are to promote savings for the financing of
investment, its determinants must be clearly identified, Until recently,
financial development was assumed to enhance the saving rate. It
consists of elimination of credit ceilings, interest rate
liberalization, easing of entry for foreign financial institutions,
enhanced prudential guidelines and supervision, and the development of
capital markets. Loayza and Shankar (2000) find that financial
development has led the private sector to increase the durable goods
component of their assets. the effect of financial development on saving
rates can be separated into a direct short-run impact, which is usually
negative, and an indirect long-run impact, which is generally positive
(See Loayza et al, 2000). However, whether increased financial
development itself significantly increases overall propensity to save
depends on me extent of substitution between financial saving and other
items in the household's asset portfolio. Consequently, the expected
signs of this relationship in the private saving function are ambiguous
(Athukora) and Sen, 2004). This study attempts to determine the effects
of fiscal and monetary policies on saving mobilization in Nigeria. It
also attempts to find influence of other Macroeconomics variables on
both domestic and mobilization as a means of attaining economic growth
and development 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
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Savings, a
necessary engine of economic growth has been very low in Nigeria, Gross
Domestic Savings as a percentage of GDI1 in less developed countries has
been low; between 1980 and 2001, it averaged 6,4% in Ghana, 37.4% in
Botswana, 2!.4% in Cameroon, 21.6% in Nigeria, 13.9% in Kenya and 7.3%
in Malawi (WDTS 2003), He apparent low savings in Nigeria has been due
to a combination of micro and macroeconomic and political factors such
as high level of poverty, low income per head, high level of
unemployment, inefficient financial institutions, and many more. In
order to overcome the problem of low savings in Nigeria, various
monetary and fiscal policies have been pursued over the years but these
have no! yielded the required results The objectives of monetary policy
since 1986 have remained the same as in the earlier period - the
stimulation of output and employment, and the promotion of domestic and
external stability. In line with the general philosophy of economic
management under SAP, monetary' policy was aimed at inducing the
emergence of a market-oriented financial system for effective
mobilization of financial savings and efficient resource allocation. The
main instrument of the market-based framework is the open market
operations. This is complemented by reserve requirements and discount
window operations. The adoption of a market-based framework such as OMO
in an economy that had
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been under direct control for the
required substantial improvement in the macroeconomic. legal term
regulatory environment . Fiscal policy is therefore a government policy
that attempts to influence the direction of the economy through changes
in government spending (expenditure) or taxes or simply put. fiscal
policy refers to the overall effect of the budge! outcome on economic
activity. With the other main type of economic policy, like the monetary
policy which attempts to stabilize the economy by controlling interest
rates and the supply of money, budgetary actions that raise the growth
of government expenditures, reduce the growth of revenues and either
increase the deficit or reduce the surplus are the sort of fiscal
policies that tend to stimulate short-term growth and capital formation
through savings mobilization in the economy. Actions that reduce
expenditures; increase government revenues and shrink the deficit or
increase the surplus tend to dampen short-term economic growth. The
three possible stances of fiscal policy are neutral, expansionary and
Contractionary: A neutral stance of fiscal policy implies a balanced
budget where G = T (Government spending - Tax revenue). An expansionary
stance of fiscal policy involves a net increase in government spending
(G > T) through EL rise in government spending or a fall in taxation
revenue or a combination of the two. Contractionary fiscal policy (G
< T) occurs when net government spending is reduced either through
higher taxation revenue or reduced government spending or a combination
of the two. The findings of this study will provide answer to these and
many more questions that would be raised in the count of the study.
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1.3
RESEARCH QUESTIONS This research question was asked and answered: 1.
What are the fiscal and monetary policies that can be used to enhance
savings mobilization for investment purpose? 2. What are the key
variables explaining effective mobilization of savings? 3. What arc the
problems encountered in the process of taxing mobilization? 4. What
policy option have been formulated to correct these problems and to
sustain savings mobilization process?
1.4 Research Hypothesis
To effectively achieve the above mentioned objectives we adopt a null hypothesis:
HO: The monetary policy instrument does not have significant impact on National Savings
HI: The monetary policy instruments have significant impact on National Savings
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1.5
HYPOTHESIS TESTING HYP. 1 HQ: The monetary policies do not have
significant effect on national savings HI: The monetary policies have
significant effect on national savings HYP. 2 HQ: The fiscal policies do
not have significant effect on national savings HI: The fiscal policies
have significant effect on national savings
1.6 Methodology
This
aspect of the research work aims at giving detailed information about
the method used in gathering relevant and useful data for the study.
Basically, the methods used in this research work are analytical. The
work is based on data collected from secondary sources such as
Statistical Bulletin of Central Banks of Nigeria (CBN) and annual
reports of Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC). The data
collected are in form of statistical data and tables which are analyzed
to arrive at a conclusion. 1.7 Method of Data Analysis of Statistical
Method or Econometric Method Using E-view To be able to exhaust the
subject matter of this study that is, the effects of fiscal and monetary
policies on savings mobilization in Nigeria, the study will cover the
period of 1981 to 2013. The finding(s) of this study will only be
limited, consistent
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and applicable to Nigerian economic system.
1.8 PLAN OF THE STUDY Domestic resources serve as a vital engine of
growth and poverty reduction. However, the effective mobilization of
domestic resources depends on an efficient and well developed financial
market Capital formation is a prerequisite for development. However, in
Third World countries the inadequacies of the financial systems often
prevent the accumulation of financial resources. These systems need to
fulfill their role as agents between (abundantly available) savings and
investments to a greater extent. Economic development in Third World
countries means growth and the participation of the poor in such growth.
This requires large investments and thus capital. This is not something
that has been discovered recently but something that was already
recognized at the start of development co-operation about 40 years ago.
However, nowadays many development aid organizations are bemoaning cash
shortages. Moreover, capital aid within the scope of development
cooperation has often led to the recipient country becoming over
borrowed. Is it possible to promote capital formation in less developed
countries through the use of its fiscal and monetary policies? When
economists address this subject, they like to point out that a national
economy can only invest to the same extent as it also saves - and saving
mean forgoing consumption. Statistics show there are major differences
from country to country when it comes to their ability to forego
consumption. For example, between 1980 and 2000 the national savings
rates were between 23% and
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58% in Singapore, between 34% and 42%
in The People's Republic of China, between -5% and 24% in Ghana and
between -4% and 14% in Senegal. The rationale behind this study emanated
from the desire to examine how government policies particularly fiscal
and monetary policies has affected mobilization of savings in the
economy and to clarify issues that can manifest in the process. Besides
many studies have been conducted on fiscal and monetary policies in the
past but little have been done to relate these studies to savings
mobilization in Nigeria. Because of the importance of capital formation
on economic growth and development it is very essential to study the
effect of these macroeconomic policies on saving mobilization. Thus, to
design policy instruments through which savings mobilization can be
enhanced and sustained through fiscal and monetary policies and to be
able to channel it to appropriate capital investment, remains the
important rationale behind this study.