ABSTRACT 

The study examined the influence of lending rate on economic growth of Nigeria for the period 1995 to 2016. To specifically carry out this study, the study made use of lending rate and exchange rate as the independent variables while gross domestic product served as the dependent variable. The study employed the use of the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) multiple regression technique in analyzing the data which was collected from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin (2016). From the empirical result obtained, it was revealed that lending rate had a negative and significant effect on economic growth (proxied by gross domestic product) in Nigeria. Furthermore, the study showed that exchange rate had a positive and significant effect on economic growth in Nigeria. The study recommended that the government should work towards reducing the lending rate and this is achievable through a reduction in the monetary policy rate as pegged by the Central Bank of Nigeria.