Olufemi Adewale Aluko

This study assesses from a macroeconomic perspective the determinants of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) financing by the banking sector in Nigeria between 1992 and 2014. The empirical model specifies commercial banks’ lending to SMEs as a function of selected macroeconomic indicators which include commercial banks’ total deposits, financial deepening, interest rate spread, lending rate, monetary policy rate, commercial banks’ total assets and inflation rate. The 2SLS estimation results show that only commercial banks’ deposit mobilization, depth of the financial sector and size of the banking sector act as determinants of SMEs financing by commercial banks

Understanding the impact of financial liberalization on stock market is important for decision making by investors. The neo-classical economists believe that financial liberalization reduces stock market volatility while the post-Keynesian economists argue that financial liberalization increases volatility of the stock market. This study investigates the effect of financial liberalization on the volatility of an emerging stock market in Africa, with particular focus on the Nigerian stock market. The estimation results reveal that financial liberalization has a significant positive impact on return volatility, thus indicating that it increases stock market volatility. Also, the study finds no evidence of asymmetry in the stock market.