EFFECT OF MICRO LENDING RATE ON SMES GROWTH IN NIGERIA
Small and medium enterprises are acknowledged as the lubricants that wheel the socio-economic development of a nation yet their growth has been stunted by harsh fiscal and monetary policies. This study seeks to investigate the effect of micro financing interest rate on small and medium scale enterprises growth in Lagos and Ogun State, Nigeria. Primary data was employed using structured self-administered questionnaire with five-point Likert scale. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design to give an accurate description of the research variables. Yaro Yamane’s sampling technique was used to select four hundred (400) SMEs from the total population of thirteen thousand four hundred and fifty-seven (13,457) in both Lagos and Ogun States, while stratified and proportionate sampling methods are used to determine the sample size of three hundred and fourty eight (348) SMEs in Lagos state and fifty-two (52) in Ogun state. Ordinary Least Square Regression (OLS) was used to estimate the regression. In the study, one hypothesis was formulated and tested. The results from the hypothesis tested revealed that a significant negative relationship exist between micro finance interest rate and SMEs growth in Nigeria at 5 per cent level (tc= -1.570731; p= 0.0009). Based on the finding, the study concluded that significant negative relationship exist between micro finance interest rate and small & medium enterprises growth in Nigeria. The study recommends that microfinance banks should charge moderate interest rate to SMEs without stringent collateral requirements to boosts SMEs growth in Nigeria.