Money Supply,Journal
Asian-African
Inflationofand
Economics
Economic
andGrowth
Econometrics,
in Nigeria
Vol. 11, No. 1, 2011: 221-237
221
MONEY SUPPLY, INFLATION AND ECONOMIC
GROWTH IN NIGERIA
Musibau Adetunji Babatunde* and Muhammed Isa Shuaibu*
ABSTRACT
This paper estimates a monetary growth model for Nigeria by examining the existence of a
significant long run relationship between money supply, capital stock, inflation and economic
growth between 1975 and 2008. It makes use of error correction mechanism in the bounds
testing approach to cointegration within an autoregressive distributed lag framework. The
empirical estimates reveal a positive and significant relationship between money supply and
capital stock while a negative relationship was found between inflation and growth.
Keywords: Money supply, Inflation, Growth, Cointegration, Nigeria.
JEL Classification: E31, E51, C22
I.
INTRODUCTION
Economic growth can be regarded as an important macroeconomic objective of the government
given the fact that it visibly impacts on the standard of living. Inflation has been an issue of
concern to policymakers in Nigeria in recent years given the need to stimulate domestic demand
and to meet government’ s huge fiscal obligations ina post-recessionary period. Nevertheless,
price level in Nigeria has witnessed profound fluctuations since 1970. Persistent inflation and
limited bank credit have been held responsible for the systemic crisis in the banking sector,
slow growth of manufacturing and agricultural sectors, reduced productivity and generally low
and slow economic progress.
However, there have been divergent views on the determinants of growth in Nigeria and
other countries. Several studies have tried to examine the implication of inflation and money
supply as part of a group of independent variables or their individual effect on growth. This
linkage has been observed in a number of studies (See Odedokun (1997), Levine (1997),
Ghosh and Philips (1998), Moosa (1982), Teriba (2006), Moser (1995), Balakrishanan (1991),
Grauwe and Polan (2005), Lucas (2000), Ireland (1994), Kaldor (1959), Bessler (1984),
Morooney (2002) among others). While some suggest the existence of a negative relationship
between money supply, inflation and growth, others have found a positive relationship at
different significance level in both cases. While much explanation has been offered on the
determinants of growth in Nigeria and/or its implication for the country’ s long term economic
development, quite a little is known about the impact of money supply and inflation on the
*
Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, E-mail:
[email protected] ,
[email protected]
222
Musibau Adetunji Babatunde & Muhammed Isa Shuaibu
economic progression of the country. Consequently, the major objective of this paper is to
examine the possible impact, if any, of money supply and inflation on growth and the existence
of a long run relationship amongst the variables in addition to some other determinants of
growth predicated by the Tobin’ s model of money inNigeria observed from the literature.
Reliable estimates of the linkage between money supply, inflation and growth in Nigeria
are important pieces of information in formulating public policies on financial sector reforms
and restructuring, particularly given the need for diversification of the economy from an oil
dependent to a non-oil sector driven one which has been a major component of reforms over
the years. This information is also important to the monetary and fiscal authorities in formulating
appropriate and well coordinated monetary and fiscal policies via the monetary policy
transmission mechanism. Although, there have been numerous empirical studies on growth
determinants as well as its implications for aggregate macroeconomic activities and vice versa
in high-, low-, and middle-income countries, the econometric model from a developing
economy’ s perspective like Nigeria may however require a different framework. One potential
difference is that the level of economic growth, magnitude of exposure and strength of banking
systems, intensity of productivities, degree of independence of monetary authorities as well as
factor intensities and structural change associated with rapid development induced by sound
macroeconomic fundamentals suggest differences in the nature of the relationship. This study
intends to add to the pool of existing literature on growth determinants in Nigeria by empirically
analyzing the drivers of growth within the Tobin’ smodel of money framework in Nigeria. In
addition, this paper differs from previous work in that earlier research has not been based on a
Tobin’ s model of money growth with respect to theoretically grounded regression model. Thus,
this study attempts to add to the vast pool of literature by specifying a model based on the
Tobin’ s money growth theory as a regression model whose theoretical implications are tested
explicitly.
The empirical analysis is for the period 1975–2008, employing annual data. The choice of
this period is due to the availability of data. Money supply and inflation as well as other
growth drivers’ sensitivity of both the long- and ht e short-run are examined. The study uses
the bounds testing approach to cointegration, developed by Pesaran et al. (2001), within an
autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) framework, to test for a long-run level relationship
between money supply, inflation and growth. In addition, error correction model is used to
knot the long and short run results. The sequence of the study is clear. Following this introductory
part, section two presents the stylized facts about money supply, inflation and growth in Nigeria
while section three discusses the related literature and the theoretical framework. Modeling
issues and estimation techniques are explored in section four while section five highlights the
empirical analysis and expounds the results. Section six summarizes and concludes.
II. STYLIZED FACTS ON MONEY SUPPLY, INFLATION AND GROWTH IN
NIGERIA
The Nigerian economy has witnessed substantial growth since the country’ s attainment of political
independence in 1960. The real value of gross domestic product (GDP) 1 jumped from N2, 489
million in 1960 to N4, 219 million in 1970 and therefore heaved to record about N31, 546
Money Supply, Inflation and Economic Growth in Nigeria
223
million in 1980. Following the foreign exchange crisis of 1981–1986, accompanied by the
downfall of international crude oil prices, the magnitude of growth skewed from the path it
would have otherwise taken (See Figure 1). Economic growth witnessed a steady fall between
1980 and 1984 for thereafter regained momentum taking an upward trend there from. Thus, the
growth rate of the Nigerian economy, which had averaged 2.5 per cent annually in the 1960s,
climbed to an annual average of 10 per cent between 1970 and 1989.
Industrial development is attributable to several factors and these includes amongst others,
the rate of capital accumulation and saving, volume of trade, research and development, volume
of external trade (exports) and so on2. The enormous fiscal expansion overtime is a key factor
cannot be overemphasized. Monetary expansion, which reflects either demand for credit by
the domestic economy or government fiscal expansion is a major determinant of inflation.
Although with a lag, aggregate demand and inflation move in tandem. However an increase in
real output, particularly food output, has a dampening effect on the general price level. It is
pertinent to note that monetary and fiscal policy in Nigeria is conducted in an environment
characterized by uncertainty and frequent economic policy somersaults. Also the development
of an adequate framework for sustainable growth and development is complicated by
inconsistent policies, bureaucracy and variations in environmental conditions either of a climatic
nature or crises.
Growth in money supply was substantial as broad and narrow money have exhibited upward
trend overtime. Money supply, M1 and M2 grew rapidly from 16.3 and 19.4 per cent in 1995
to 48.1 and 62.2 per cent in 2000, respectively. The growth in monetary aggregates was due to
factors such as: rapid monetization of oil inflows, minimum wage adjustments, and the financing
of government’ s fiscal deficits through the bankingsystem. Credit to the private sector, by
contrast, declined sharply from 48.0 per cent in 1995 to 23.9 per cent in 1997 and thereafter
increased gradually to 30.9 per cent in 2000. However, it stayed within the prescribed limits in
only three (3) out of the six-year time frame (1995-2000). Overall, the major source of liquidity
was growth in credit to government in most of the years. Generally, inflationary pressure
induced by high money supply has been one of the major factors that have consistently
undermined the attainment of sustainable growth in Nigeria, even amidst persistent and robust
economic reform packages.
It will be recalled that amongst the major macroeconomic objectives of Nigeria and other
economies is the pursuit of growth and maintenance of price stability. Using this yardstick, the
outcome of inflation and money growth in Nigeria has been generally mixed. By definition,
price stability in Nigeria refers to the achievement of a single-digit inflation rate on an annual
basis. Indeed, this objective has not been achieved on a sustained basis. For example, in 1995
the rate of inflation was 72.8 per cent while the target of single digit inflation was achieved in
only three (3) out of six (6) years, between 1995 and 2000. In fact, the single-digit inflation
rate that materialized was attributable to a favourable agricultural harvest 3. The performance
of the real sector improved in 2001, with the real gross domestic product growing by 3.9 per
cent. The major sources of growth were agriculture, manufacturing, merchandise, transportation,
finance and insurance and government services. However, inflationary pressures accelerated
as a result of the liquidity surfeit fuelled by expansionary fiscal operations and the lingering
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Musibau Adetunji Babatunde & Muhammed Isa Shuaibu
structural bottlenecks that increased costs of doing business in the economy while the
unemployment level remained high.
The link between economic growth, money supply and inflation is a universal phenomenon
and it is peculiar to every government in the world. There have been various studies that
examined the possibility of a causal relationship between money supply, the general price
level and economic growth. While most of these studies indicate monetary expansion as a spur
to growth and inflation as an obstruction that negate growth, a few others have provided evidence
to the contrary.
Most researchers of the monetary perspective have argued persuasively that inflation is
strictly a monetary phenomenon and that inflation occurs when the rate of growth of money
supply is higher than the growth rate of output in the economy. This is the conventional
monetarist linkage from the creation of base money to inflation when monetary authorities
issue money at a rate that exceeds the demand for cash balances at the existing price level and
the increased demand in the goods market pushes up the price level as the public tries to get rid
of its excess cash holdings. It is the contention of these economists that the central banks can
bridge the gap between growth and inflation by effectively coordinating monetary expansion
in a bid to achieve a balanced interplay between them.
Table 1
Some Selected Macroeconomic Aggregates (Average)
M2 Money Growth
CPI Inflation
Real GDP growth
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
32.5
6.6
3.0
21.3
6.9
3.8
17.7
18.9
4.7
19.4
12.9
4.6
25.0
23.8
9.6
12.3
10.0
6.6
16.6
11.6
6.5
30.6
8.5
6.0
30.9
6.6
6.2
na
15.10
na
Source: Authors Computation from CBN Statistical Bulletin (Special Anniversary Edition). na implies not available
Table 1 presents some monetary policy aggregates in the Nigerian economy between 1999
and 2007. For those variables that go in the same direction, high growth rate of M2 prompts
high monetization of the economy and thus real GDP growth which in turn causes high inflation.
Impressively, however, inflation turned out to be in a single digit in 2006 and 2007 but rose
sharply to 15.10 per cent in 2008 which is a hindrance to the proposed inflation targeting.
Figure 1 depicts the movement of real GDP, gross capital formation, money supply and
inflation from 1970 to 2008. It is apparent that real GDP had been quite low in the 1970s up to
the early 1980s which may be attributable to positive global crude oil price increase which
increased the country’ s foreign exchange earnings and thus led to a huge fiscal expansion that
in turn had a burgeoning effect on the total value of goods and services in the country. Towards
the mid 1980s to the end of the decade, gross domestic product took an upward trend albeit
slight fluctuations. Furthermore, the chart indicates contrary to theory, a persistent divergence
between the two variables up to the mid 1990s when a co-movement between growth in money
stock and the rate of inflation is witnessed, as suggested apriori. This is particularly discernible
precisely from the periods 1999 to 2003. From the graphic representation, it is also apparent
that inflation responds to the growth in the broad money stock with a lag. Visual inspection of
Money Supply, Inflation and Economic Growth in Nigeria
225
Figure 1: Trend of Real GDP, Money Supply, Gross Capital Formation, and Inflation Rate
the chart suggests that in the early 1980s, headline inflation responded to changes in money
stock after about a quarter. Thereafter, the lag varies ranging usually between two to three
quarters between the late 1980s and the mid-1990s. Beginning from 1997, both variables record
high frequency changes making co-movement less apparent. Further perusal of the chart reveals
that, during this period inflation responded to changes in money stock at different paces.
The Nigerian economy prior to the global economic slowdown in 2007 performed below
projection, with an estimated GDP growth of 6.2 per cent4. This figure, below the set target of
10%, was still higher than the 6.0 per cent recorded in 2006. This growth was driven primarily
by the non-oil sector, which grew by 9.6 per cent (CBN, 2008), largely attributable to the
agriculture sector, which grew by 7.4 per cent, led by crop production, livestock and fishing.
Other drivers of growth in non-oil GDP included wholesale and retail trade, building and
construction and services, which recorded growth rates of 15.3 per cent, 13.0 per cent and 9.8
per cent, respectively. Industrial output fell by 3.5 per cent, attributable mainly to the 5.9 per
cent drop in crude oil production occasioned by the Niger Delta crisis. By year-end 2007, the
crude oil production shut-in stood at 0.9 million barrels a day. Official confirmation from the
Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) showed that the country lost N16.9 billion to
petroleum pipeline vandalism.
There is a veritably traceable connect between money and prices. Although this link is
known to many central banks, emphasis has remained much more faddishly on other variables
as targets rather than money supply itself. It is expected that the focus of monetary policy
should be on the management of the primary source of inflation which in itself is unrestricted
fiscal, monetary and credit expansion by the government using the instrumentality of the bank.
The thinking is a policy that merely suppresses the effects of its own actions. What this means
is that the central bank should first of all manage the money creation process which is at the
heart of inflation arising primarily from both the financing of government’ s fiscal deficits as
well as the growing penchant for loosening banks credit creation capacity. The creation of
226
Musibau Adetunji Babatunde & Muhammed Isa Shuaibu
money out of thin air can only generate inflation. Once this is resolved within the context of
the rule of law, efficient justice system for the protection of private property rights, and
eradication (or serious reduction) of public sector corruption, inflation will naturally fall to a
desired level and the economy is in turn expected to grow strongly.
III. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Increasing concern in recent literature has been skewed towards the integration of monetary
theory with economic growth and on the role of money in growth theories. Most research
carried out so far in Nigeria have given little consideration to the theoretical underpinning of a
growth model that explicitly takes money growth into consideration. At best these studies have
ran money demand models and equations for Nigeria based on the quantity theory of money in
a bid to ascertain the determinants of inflation, growth, and in other cases money holding.
An enormous body of literature, beginning with the work of Tobin (1965) and Sidrauski
(1967), assesses the effects of sustained price inflation on the equilibrium growth path in a
neoclassical setting. Subsequent studies have tried to model money demand within the growth
framework of Solow. According to Kaldor (1959), the determinant of the money rate of return
is the rate of growth of income in money terms, which will exceed or fall short of the real rate
of growth accordingly as prices are rising or falling. This he argued is possible if a regime of
completely stable prices is only consistent with a steadily growing economy when the real rate
of growth in the national income is fairly high (that is, when it exceeds 4-6 per cent per annum).
Moroney (2002) develops a long-run version of the quantity theory of money growth, real
GDP growth, and inflation and finds that the cross-section inflation rates are explained almost
entirely by average broad money growth rates. The author asserts that countries experiencing
high money growth and inflation had estimated coefficients of money supply (M2) growth
strikingly close to one, strongly in conformity with the quantity theory. Comparatively, in
countries with relatively low money growth and inflation, the estimated money growth
coefficient is only 0.69; hence the quantity theory offers a less complete explanation of inflation.
Money growth and GDP growth are nearly orthogonal, consistent with long-run monetary
super neutrality5. He concludes that the quantity theory is a reliable model of inflation for most
countries, but not those experiencing slow long-run money growths.
Ireland (1994) found that the effects of inflation on growth are small and the effects of
growth on the monetary system are substantial. The results are consistent with evidence that
money and asset demands vary systematically within economies as they develop. Lucas (2000)
in a survey of the welfare cost of inflation found that the gain from reducing the annual inflation
rate from 10 per cent to zero is equivalent to an increase in real income of slightly less than one
per cent. Stein (1966) on the other hand introduced such concepts of money into his growth
model, and tried to analyze equilibrium growth and its stability. Furthermore, he considered
the effects of variations in the growth rate of the supply of money and in the composition of
money on the long-run equilibrium capital intensity and found a positive relationship between
them.
Grauwe and Polan (2005) use a sample of about 160 countries over a sample of 30 years to
examine relationship between growth, money and inflation. They find a strong positive but
Money Supply, Inflation and Economic Growth in Nigeria
227
unproportional relation between long-run inflation and the money growth rate on economic
growth. They argue that the strong link between inflation and money growth is almost wholly
attributable to the presence of high-(or hyper-) inflation countries in the sample.
Using panel regressions and allowing for a nonlinear specification, Philips and Ghosh
(1998) find a statistically and economically significant negative relationship between inflation
and growth, which holds robustly at all but the lowest inflation rates. The authors use a “decisiontree” technique to identify inflation as one of the most important determinants of growth.
Finally, short-run growth costs of disinflation are only relevant for the most severe disinflations,
or when the initial inflation rate is well within the single-digit range. Bessler (1984) analyzes
Brazilian agricultural prices, industrial prices, and money supply in a vector autoregression
model. The empirical findings show strong, one-way, Granger-type causality from money
supply to agricultural prices; while feedback is observed between industrial prices and money
supply.
Xie, Tang, Cui (2009) in an empirical analysis on the relationship between money supply,
economic growth, and inflation in China from 1998 to 2007 with cointegration and Granger
causality test approaches shows that there is no cointegration relationship among money supply,
inflation, and economic growth, but there is cointegration relationship between money supply
and inflation while there is no long run relationship between money supply and economic
growth. Thus, they conclude that there is a contradiction between the goal of economic growth
and of price stability in China. There finding and conclusion implies that it may be possible to
implement loose monetary policy contemporaneously, there is still the need to explore other
sources that can stimulate economic growth other than monetary policy in the long run.
Georgios (1993) use annual post-war data for 32 countries and show that output and the
price level are positively related along the aggregate supply and negatively related along the
aggregate demand curve. This implies that the negative correlation between inflation and growth
simply means that the price level has been countercyclical as aggregate supply shocks dominated
aggregate demand shocks. He goes further to show that money growth has positive and
permanent effects on inflation, but may affect output only in the short run as in the long run,
money is probably neutral.
Contemporary thought on the topic of money and growth has its origins in work by
Tobin (1965). Tobin considers the allocation of a fixed flow of savings between two assets,
money and physical capital. An increase in the rate of inflation lowers the real return on
money, leading agents to substitute out of cash and into capital. This is the Tobin effect:
higher rates of inflation are associated with a larger capital stock and a higher level of output
per capita. Sidrauski (1967) proposed another version of the monetary growth theory, with
his seminal work on the context of an infinitely-lived representative agent model where
money is super neutral6. The main result in Sidrauski’ s study is that an ni crease in the inflation
rate does not affect the steady state capital stock and as such neither output nor economic
growth is affected. Savings and money-demand functions are derived from optimizing
behavior in this model, rather than postulated and held fixed as in Tobin’ s work. The longrun stock of capital depends only on its depreciation rate, the population’ s growth rate, and
a representative agent’ s subjective discount rate.Thus, money in Sidrauski’ s model is super
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Musibau Adetunji Babatunde & Muhammed Isa Shuaibu
neutral in the sense that changes in the rate of money growth and inflation have no effect on
steady-state capital and output
Subsequent work on money and growth has focused on the distinction between Tobin’ s
and Sidrauski’ s conclusions about the effects of anticipated inflation on capital and output
(See Fischer (1983), Bessler (1984), and Moroney (2002)). Each contribution to this literature
asks which set of results, Tobin’ s or Sidrauski’ s,carries over to a new or more general setting.
In some cases, the Tobin effect is present. Fischer (1979), for example, discovers that super
neutrality in the Sidrauski model holds only in the long run. The Tobin effect appears along
the transition path to the steady state, with higher inflation inducing faster capital accumulation.
In other cases, Sidrauski’ s results are confirmed.Jean-Pierre Danthine et al. (1987), for instance,
present a stochastic money-in-the-utility-function model in which money comes very close to
being super neutral. In still other cases, higher inflation decreases capital and output, so that
neither Tobin’ s nor Sidrauski’ s results apply. In articular,
p
inflation acts as a tax on productive
activity and therefore retards capital accumulation in the cash-in-advance models studied by
Stockman (1981) and Cooley and Hansen (1989, 1991)7.
Stockman (1981) developed a model in which an increase in the inflation rate results in a
lower steady state level of output and people’ s welfare declines. In Stockman’ s model, money
is a compliment to capital, accounting for a negative relationship between the steady-state
level of output and the inflation rate. Stockman’ sinsight is prompted by the fact that firms put
up some cash in financing their investment projects. Stockman models this cash investment as
a cash-in-advance restriction on both consumption and capital purchases. Since inflation erodes
the purchasing power of money balances, people reduce their purchases of both cash goods
and capital when the inflation rate rises. Correspondingly, the steady-state level of output falls
in response to an increase in the inflation rate.
Prior to this research, the basic growth model that relates growth to human and material
capital and other resources or growth drivers have been the thrust of some empirical
investigations examined in Nigeria. But the use of this model has been criticized by several
authors on the basis of exclusion of money growth. For instance, Tobin (1965) argued that the
role of monetary factors in determining growth cannot be overemphasized with respect to its
role in determining the degree of capital intensity and thus growth of an economy. Findings of
Iyoha (1969) reveal that there exist a clear relationship between money supply and economic
growth. Others in Nigeria who have confirmed a strong relationship between money supply
and growth include (Odedokun 1996; Okedokun 1998; Ojo 1993; Owoye and Onafowora
2007). These studies however did not consider the role of prices and capital at least within the
Tobin’ s model.
The story being developed here indicates that an understanding of the macro-dynamic
interlinkages between inflation, capital accumulation and economic growth is imperative. This
is because while theoretical literature is quite emphatic about the relationship exiting between
inflation, capital accumulation and economic growth, empirical literature is still ambiguous on
the impact, direction, and the strength of the relationship across countries, regions and empirical
methodology used.
Money Supply, Inflation and Economic Growth in Nigeria
229
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical underpinning explored in this study leans on the monetary version of growth
model proposed by Tobin (1965) and seeks to establish the relationship between money supply,
inflation and economic growth. In this model, portfolio proposition is put within a growth
context. This framework is chosen based on its applicability and significance of its assumptions
to the nature and structure of the Nigerian economy. Conspicuous among the assumptions of
the model are that changes in money stock are concocted via lump sum transfers and the
assumptions underlying the Solow growth model.
Contemporary thought on the topic of money and growth has its origins in work by Tobin
(1965). Tobin considers the allocation of a fixed flow of savings between two assets, money
and physical capital. An increase in the rate of inflation lowers the real return on money,
leading agents to substitute out of cash and into capital. That is higher rates of inflation are
connected with larger capital stock and higher level of output per capita.
In this model the decision is between money and physical assets. The starting point of the
model is a production function of the classical type expressed as;
yt = f(kt–1)
(1)8
Thus in line with the Solowian growth theory under the assumption of fixed savings rate
out of real income, asset accumulation will be equal to savings rate, s, times household income:
∆K t + ∆
π t M t −1
Mt
= s yt + τ t N t −
1 + π t Pt −1
Pt
(2)
Expressing equation 2 in per capita quantities yield;
∆kt = k t − kt −1 = ∆
Kt
n
− t kt −1
Pt 1 + nt
πt
mt Mt 1
nt
∆kt = s yt + τ t −
− ∆
kt −1
−
1 + π t 1 + nt Pt N t 1 + nt
πt
θt − π t
mt
n
∆kt = s f (kt −1 ) + τ t −
−
M t −1 − t kt −1
1 + π t 1 + nt (1 + π t )(1 + nt )
1 + nt
θt − π t
n
∆kt = sf (kt −1 ) − (1 − s)
M t −1 − t kt −1
+
π
+
+
(1
)(1
)
1
n
nt
t
t
(3)9
(4)
(5) 10
(6)
In the steady state, ∆k* = ∆m* = 0
∆m* =
1+ θ
m* − θm*
− m* =
− 1 m* = 0
(1 + πt )(1 + nt )
(1 + π)(1 + n)
(7)
230
Musibau Adetunji Babatunde & Muhammed Isa Shuaibu
Since the growth of nominal money and population are constant in the steady state inflation
will also be constant thus equation 7 becomes;
n *
θ − π*
m* +
k
*
1+ n
(1 + π )(1 + nt )
(8)
θ−π *
m + nk *
(1 + θ)
(9)
θ−π
ψk * + nk *
(1 + θ)
(10)11
f ( k * ) = (1 − s ) ψ * + 1 nk * + π
(11)
f (k * ) = (1 − s)
f (k * ) = (1 − s)
f (k * ) = (1 − s)
Tobin’ s framework shows that a higher inflation rate via money supply permanently raises
the level of output. However, the effect on output growth is temporary, occurring during the
transition from an initial steady state capital stock to a new steady state capital stock. Inflation
induces greater capital accumulation and higher growth, only until the return to capital falls.
Thereafter higher investment will cease and only steady state growth will result. Quite simply,
the Tobin effect suggests that inflation causes individuals to substitute out of money and into
interest earning assets, which leads to greater capital intensity and promotes economic growth.
In effect, inflation exhibits a positive relationship to economic growth. Tobin (1972) also
argued that, because of the downward rigidity of prices (including wages), the adjustment in
relative prices during economic growth could be better achieved by the upward price movement
of some individual prices.
IV. THE MODEL AND ESTIMATION TECHNIQUE
The theoretical framework presented above exposed the channels through which money supply
and inflation can influence economic growth. The model specified captures the objectives of
the study and is based on the outcome of the theoretical frame work.
To this end, this study formulates a monetary growth model on the basis of Polan and
Grauwe (2005) type model that connects money and growth but with alterations on the right
left hand variables whilst considering short and long run analyses of balanced growth and
stability of the system. The model is specified as follows.
ln yt = φ0 + φ1 ln M t + φ 2 ln K t + φ3 ln INFt + ε t
(12)
φ1 > 0, φ2 > 0, φ3 < 0
(13)
Where lny is the natural log of real output, lnM is the natural log of money supply; lnK is
the natural log of gross domestic investment and å is a random error, which is assumed to be
white noise, normally and identically distributed with zero mean and a constant variance.
An increase in money supply makes output to rise by the same proportion as money will
leave the real balances unchanged. This will not affect equilibrium condition because money
231
Money Supply, Inflation and Economic Growth in Nigeria
supply will not change. When this occurs, it implies that the model exhibits neutrality of money.
This implies that a change in money supply has no effect on output. The implication of inflation
and capital stock on growth is unequivocally captured in equation (12). Equation (13) specifies
the apriori theoretical expectations.
Pesaran et al. (2001) developed a new Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds
testing approach for testing the existence of a cointegration relationship. The bound testing
approach has certain econometric advantages in comparison to other single cointegration
procedures (Engle and Granger, 1987; Johansen, 1988; Johansen and Juselius, 1990). Firstly,
endogeneity problems and inability to test hypotheses on the estimated coefficients in the
long-run associated with the Engle-Granger (1987) method are avoided. Secondly, the long
and short-run parameters of the model in question are estimated simultaneously. Thirdly, the
econometric methodology is relieved of the burden of establishing the order of integration
amongst the variables and of pre-testing for unit roots. The ARDL approach to testing for the
existence of a long-run relationship between the variables in levels is applicable irrespective
of whether the underlying regressors are purely I(0), purely I(1), or fractionally integrated.
Finally, as argued in Narayan (2005), the small sample properties of the bounds testing approach
are far superior to that of multivariate cointegration. The approach, therefore, modifies the
Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) framework while overcoming the inadequacies
associated with the presence of a mixture of I(0) and I(1) regressors in a Johansen-type
framework. A priori we expect growth to be significantly influenced by money, domestic
prices and capital stock..
The ARDL representation of growth, money supply and capital stock, can be constructed as:
Q
∆yt = α 0 +
∑α
i =1
Q
1i ∆ yt − i
+
∑α
i=0
Q
2 i ∆M t − i
+
∑α
i=0
Q
3i ∆K t − i
+
∑α
4 i ∆Pt − i
+ α 5 Mt −1 + α 6 Kt −1 + α 7 Pt −1 + εt
i=0
where the variables are defined in equation (12). The procedure of the bounds testing approach
is based on the F or Wald-statistics and is the first stage of the ARDL cointegration method.
The null hypothesis is tested by considering the UECM in equation (14) while excluding the
lagged variables ∆yt, ∆Mt, ∆Kt, based on the Wald or F-statistic. The asymptotic distribution of
the F-statistic is non-standard under the null hypothesis of no cointegration relationship between
the examined variables, without recourse to whether the underlying explanatory variables are
purely I(0) or I(1). The null hypothesis of no cointegration (H0 : α5 = α6 = α7 = 0) is therefore
tested against the alternative hypothesis (H1 : α5 ≠ α6 ≠ α7 ≠ 0). Thus, Pesaran et al. (2001)
compute two sets of critical values for a given significance level. One set assumes that all
variables are I(0) and the other set assumes they are all I(1). If the computed F-statistic exceeds
the upper critical bounds value, then the H0 is rejected. If the F-statistic is below the lower
critical bounds value, it implies no cointegration. Lastly, if the F-statistic falls into the bounds
then the test becomes inconclusive. Consequently, the order of integration for the underlying
explanatory variables must be known before any conclusion can be drawn.
However, the critical values of Pesaran et al. (2001) are generated on sample sizes of 500
and 1000 observations and 20,000 and 40,000 replications, respectively. Narayan and Narayan
232
Musibau Adetunji Babatunde & Muhammed Isa Shuaibu
(2005) argue that such critical values cannot be used for small sample sizes like the one in this
study. Given the relatively small sample size in the present study (27 observations), we extract
the appropriate critical values from Narayan (2005) which were generated for small sample
sizes of between 30 and 80 observations. Data on output growth, money supply and capital
stock (proxied by gross fixed capital formation) were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) statistical bulletin 2008 50 years special edition. The data series starts from 1970 and
ends in 2008.
V. EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
In order to ascertain the existence of a long-run relationship among the variables in equation
(5), the F-statistic (Wald test) for the bounds test (Pesaran et al., 2001) was computed. The
F-statistic and critical bounds values for testing the null of no cointegrating relationship are
reported in Table 2. The computed F-Statistics of 4.1619 was found to exceed the lower and
upper bounds critical value of 3.03 and 4.06 respectively for a significance level of 10% using
the Pesaran et al (2001) critical values. Therefore, the null of no cointegration is rejected. This
implies that real income, money supply, inflation, gross fixed, capital formation in Nigeria are
cointegrated. Having established the existence of cointegration, we proceed to estimate the
long run relationship using an unrestricted error correction model.
Table 2
Bounds Testing for Cointegration Analysis12
Computed F-statistic: 4.1619 (lag structure, k = 1)
Critical bound’ s value at 10% - Lower: 3.03 and Upper: 4.06
(Three regressors and no trends in the model)
Table C1.v: Case V with unrestricted Intercept and unrestricted trend
Long Run and Short Run Dynamics
The long run coefficients are presented in Table 3. The estimated long-run elasticities for money
supply, inflation and gross fixed capital formation are 0.18767, -0.39582, and 0.70469
respectively. Estimated elasticities have the expected signs and are statistically significant at
the 10 per cent level respectively. For example, our results suggest that a 1 per cent increase in
money supply induces a 0.187 per cent increase in inflation while a 1 per cent increase in
Table 3
Estimated Long Run Coefficients using the ARDL Approach ARDL (2,0,1) Selected based on
Schwarz Bayesian Criterion
Regressor
Constant
MS
INF
GFCF
Coefficient
Standard Error
T-Ratio[Prob]
8.2599
0.18767
-0.39582
0.70469
2.0475
0.93672
0.92505
1.53661
4.0341[.000]
1.842973[.076]
-1.73428[.066]
2.06781[.0575]
Notes: *** Statistical significance at 1% level; ** Statistical significance at 5% level; * Statistical significance at
10% level; Figures in parenthesis are t-ratios.
233
Money Supply, Inflation and Economic Growth in Nigeria
inflation leads to a 0.395 per cent decline in real income. Gross fixed capital formation also
positively influence real income in the long run and also significant at the 5 per cent level.
In order to see the short run dynamics, the estimates of the error correction model are
presented in Table 4 and the results of the long run estimates are supported. The coefficient of
money supply and inflation elasticities are 0.14402 and -0.128906 respectively. In the short
run, a 1 per cent price increase in money supply will increase real income by 0. 144 per cent
while a 1 per cent increase in inflation will increase real income by 0.128 per cent in Nigeria.
Gross fixed capital formation also positively and significantly induces real income in the short
run. While money supply and capital formation influences real income positively while inflation
reduces it. The error correction term ECM (t-1) is negative and statistically significant, thus
corroborating the results of the cointegration tests of the existence of a long-run relationship
between the variables. The error correction term is -0.490 which indicates that 49.0 per cent of
the previous year’ s deviation from long-run equilibrium will be restored within one year.
Table 4
Error Correction Representation for the Selected ARDL Model ARDL(1,1,0,0) Selected Based on
Schwarz Bayesian Criterion
Explanatory Variables
Constant
MS
INF
INV
ECM(t-1)
R-Square
Adjusted R-Square
S.E of Regression
DW-statistic
F-Stat (3,20)
Diagnostic Tests
χ2 Auto
χ2 Norm
χ2 White
χ2RESET
Coefficients
Standard Error
T-Ratio[Prob]
2.3976
0.14402
-0.128906
0.188444
-0.49028
0.53121
0.44749
0.21291
1.9492
7.9320[.000]
1.0197
0.13214
0.12326
0.15052
0.10485
2.3514[.026]
3.4359[.002]
-0.23450[.106]
0.58758[.0961]
-2.7684[.010]
0.03986
13.7964
0.005998
5.9237
Notes: 1.*indicates that a coefficient is significant at the 1 per cent level; **indicates that a coefficient is significant
at the 5 per cent level; ***indicates that a coefficient is significant at the 10 per cent level. Dependent Variable
is LER (log of real effective exchange rates). DW is the Durbin-Watson statistic; Ser. Cor. is the Lagrange
multiplier test of residual serial correlation (see Harvey, 1981); Func. Form is Ramsey’s (1969) RESET test
for functional form specification; Normality is the test proposed by Bera and Jarque (1981); Heter. is White’s
(1980) test for heteroscedasticity; ARCH is a test for autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (Engle,
1982).
In addition, Table 4 presents diagnostic tests of our model. No evidence of autocorrelation
in the disturbance of the error term was found. The model passes the Jaque-Bera normality
tests suggesting that the errors are normally distributed. The RESET test indicates that the
model is correctly specified while the F-forecast tests indicate the predictive power/accuracy
of the model. Finally, the R-square of 0.53 indicates that 53 per cent of the variation in import
234
Musibau Adetunji Babatunde & Muhammed Isa Shuaibu
demand is explained by the variables in the model. Hence, on the basis of these statistical
properties, it is reasonable to say that the model is fairly well behaved. Thereafter, it is necessary
to check for the stability of the function. The model passes all the diagnostic tests including the
cumulative sum of recursive residuals (CUSUM) (Figure 2a) and the cumulative sum of squares
of recursive residuals (CUSUMSQ) tests (Figure 2b) of structural stability. This indicates that
the parameters are stable during the sample period.
Figure 2a: Cumulative Sum (CUSUM) Test for Stability
Figure 2b: Cummulative Sum of Squares (CUSUM SQ) Test for Stability
Money Supply, Inflation and Economic Growth in Nigeria
235
VI. CONCLUDING SUMMARY
This paper estimates a monetary growth model for Nigeria by examining the existence of a
significant long run relationship between money supply, inflation and growth as well as to
identify the possible determinants of portfolio holdings to identify the main economic
fundamentals that influence the relationship between 1975 and 2008. The study makes use of
error correction mechanism and the bounds testing approach to cointegration within an
autoregressive distributed lag framework. Quantitative evidence reveals that there is a positive
relationship between money supply, capital formation and economic growth in Nigeria while
there is a negative relationship between inflation and growth. The implication of this result is
that the government should effectively control the amount of money supplied to the economy
in order not to increase inflation which may retard real income growth.
It follows that to increase growth, it is essential to implement the set of macroeconomic
and sector-specific policies that can considerably relax the binding constraint on the availability
of capital. Second, the estimated elasticities for inflation and money growth suggests there
high sensitivity to growth. In this sense, we can assume that the model does not exhibit neutrality
of money, targeting inflation to desired levels and requisite monetary policy can spur growth.
The inference that is derivable from this is that the growth of the economy moves in tandem
with the growth of money supply and capital accumulation, especially in the absence of persistent
inflation and policy inconsistency. Empirical estimates show that while money supply and
capital accumulation can spur growth, inflationary pressure retards growth.
However, there is need to investigate further the determinants of growth within Tobin’ s
monetary growth framework using relatively more sophisticated econometric techniques. This
would require the application of such methods as generalized moment of methods and principal
components. It is anticipated that such methodologies may reveal the presence of neutrality or
even super neutrality of money that could not be established by the unrestricted error correction
model.
Notes
1.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) serves as a proxy for economic growth
2.
Precisely for the case of Nigeria(a resource dependent economy), higher global crude oil prices and expansion
of crude oil exports have significantly raised foreign exchange earnings and the over valuation of the
domestic currency which artificially cheapened exports relative to imports.
3.
The weight of food accounts for 70 per cent in the computation of Nigeria’ s consumer price index.
4.
The current global financial melt-down has weakened growth considerably in the first quarter of
2009 to 4.85 per cent from 5.75 per cent estimated for 2008 and projections for the future are not
encouraging.
5.
Orthogonality, in line with the quantity theory of money-also referred to as the (super)neutrality of moneysays that a permanent increase in the growth rate of money leaves output and velocity unaffected in the
long run. If there is a positive effect of money growth on output, it only holds in the short run.
6.
Neutrality holds if the equilibrium values of real variables are independent of the level of the money
supply in the long-run while super neutrality holds when real variables - including the rate of growth of
GDP - are independent of the rate of growth in the money supply in the long-run.
236
Musibau Adetunji Babatunde & Muhammed Isa Shuaibu
7.
See Orphanides and Solow (1990) for a complete survey of this literature
8.
There are two assets in this model and they are money (M) and capital (K) denoted as yt = f(α) where α =
kt + mt. In addition, the production function is said to be well behaved and satisfies the inada condition.
9.
Where nt =
Nt
is the population growth rate and dividing both sides of equation 2 by Nt and using the
N t −1
result to eliminate ∆
Kt
from equation 3yields equation 4
Pt
10. Changes in nominal money stock occur via lump sum transfer, τ, so that it is equal to the real per capita
value of the change in nominal quantity of money. Substituting for τ = θ
Mt
into equation 6,
(1 + π t )(1 + nt )
invoking equation 1 and further simplification yields.
n
m*
*
and 1 + θ = (1 + π*) (1 + n). Notice that ψ = * and it
1+ n
k
represents the ratio of money balance to capital stock. That is it gives the portfolio composition of the
individual asset in steady state.
11. This equation is based on the fact that n =
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