ABSTRACT

This study examined bank services in Nigeria in relation to their contribution to Nigeria economy from 1990 to 2011. The objectives of this research are: to evaluate the services being provided by Nigerian banks with reference to their contribution to Nigeria economic growth, to evaluate the contribution of services offered by banks to Nigeria economic growth, and to evaluate the contribution of bank services on credit provision to economic growth of Nigeria. Secondary data extracted from the CBN statistical Bulletin of 2011 were analyzed using the multiple regression ordinary least square. The study revealed that Number of Days Worked (DW), Number of Cheques Cleared (CC) and Private Sector Demand Deposit (PSDD) had their expected signs and positively related to economic growth (GDP) while Credit to Core Private Sector (CCP) being negatively related to economic growth has sign contrary to a priori expectations. A unit increase in DW, CC, and PSDD increase the GDP by 32542, 0.12 and 10.56 units respectively, while a unit increase in CCP decreases GDP by 2.06. The co-efficient of DW and CC were observed not to be significant based on the tstatistics of 0.38 and 0.48 respectively. On the other hand, the coefficients of PSDD and CCP had t-statistics of 4.01 and 2.41 respectively and significantly affected the economic growth of the country. Therefore, this study recommends that the structure of credit allocation by the commercial banks should be made to favour the private sector since the impact of credit on economic growth from the private sector is significant. Banks should carry out orientation programmes to educate the populace of the need of savings and this use of cheques in banking transactions. This will enhance the cashless policy and economic growth of Nigeria.