Poverty is one of the intractable problems facing mankind today. In 1995, an estimated 1.3 billion people out of the estimated 5.8 billion people in the world were living in the shackles of extreme poverty, living on less than one dollar a day (Human Development Report, 1998) Poverty is a plague-affecting people all over the world and it is a condition that denies individuals the right to exercise their full potentials. There is no universally accepted definition of poverty, but poverty can... read more

One of the greatest problems facing Nigerian economy today is inflation which is persistently a complex, economic and social problem of the economy. Inflation has become a leading topic of discussion in Nigerian families and other countries of the world. Government’s inability to provide a lasting solution to this aroused a universal conviction that inflation is inevitable and created pessimism that government has no power to bring rising price (inflation) trend to an end. Inflation is not onl... read more

Global financial crisis, also known as the financial crisis of 2007/ 08, is considered by many economists to have been the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. (Reuters, September 30, 2009. Williams, Carol J. It threatened the collapse of large financial institutions, which was prevented by national governments but stock markets still dropped worldwide. In many areas, the housing market also suffered, resulting in evictions, foreclosure and prolonged unemployment. The... read more

Interest rate is a vital tool of macroeconomic management for the government of any country in the world. The level of interest rate in any economy especially the Nigerian economy is crucial in view of its role in controlling inflation, inducing savings which can be channeled to investment and thereby increasing employment output, and efficient financial resource utilization. The 1960s to mid-1980s witnessed the administration of low interest rates which was intended to encourage investment ( Aj... read more

Aside from the fact that trade is inevitable in any economy and because countries are not equally endowed, trade is required as the engine of growth (Robinson, 1999).This is for the major reason why the importance of trade to a nation like Nigeria cannot be overemphasized .This is because, it has realized that most of the Nigeria's investment funds are directly influenced by the outcome of its source of investment funds depends on its export trade. Therefore, if trade fails to perform these i... read more

Financial instability is the new challenge for monetary policy. Most studies indicate that thetypical patterns of financial crisis include prolonged unwinding of investment. These phenomena challenge modern monetary policy. Monetary policy is the process by which the government, central bank, or monetary authority of a country controls (i) the supply of money, (ii) availability of money, and (ii)cost of moneyof rate of interest, in order to attain a set of objectives oriented towards the .gro... read more

The role of government spending in promoting economic growth and poverty reduction has been intensely debated among various scholars (Aschauer, 1989; Barro, 1990; Tanzi and Zee,1997; Fan, Hazell and Thorat, 2000). Most of these studies either treat total government spending as one variable or only include one type of spending in their models, which could obscure the underlying economic dynamics by aggregation. The importance of government expenditure in the process of human development is not... read more

This study is designed to examine the foreign exchange rate policy and management on the economic growth of Nigeria. Attention is focused on this direction because of the fact that Nigeria being a developing Nation needs to pay more attention to her economic growth and development. A developed economy will go a long way to create employment opportunities for the growing population and improve the general standard of living. The foreign exchange position has deteriorated due to continuous dwindli... read more

One of the most dramatic events in Nigeria over the past decade was the devaluation of the Nigeria naira with the adoption of structural adjustment programme (SAP) in 1986. Significantly ,this devaluation resulted in changes in the structure and volume of Nigeria's agricultural export as empirically determined by many researchers (Oyejide, 1986,Ihlmodu,1993; Osuntogun et al,1994; World Bank 1994 the depreciation also increased the prices of agricultural exports and studies have shown a marked... read more

In many development countries, structural reform of petroleum market has become a critical component of macro-economics liberation policies. The role of government in the petroleum sector is being re-defined and markets are being deregulated that is state interventions such as special treatments of state owned oil companies, price control and restriction to trade are being removed and monopolies are being broken up. Increasingly, the private sector is particularly in more competitive petroleu... read more

At the end of the Uruguay Round of Negotiation in 1994, 63 countries had made commitments to open up their telecommunications markets. On February 5 1997, an agreement was signed by 69 countries (the Basic Telecommunications Agreement, BTA), under the WTO to progressively open up their te1ecom markets to foreign investment and competition and to abide by a common set of rules and to ensure fair play. The agreement was supposed to have reduced the cost of international calls by as much as 80% and... read more

The survival of any economy depends on the composition of the manufacturing sector that operates in the country. This is however affected by different macro-economic variables ranging from induced investment multiplier, stock exchange performance indices, interest charged on loanable funds, exchange rate and exchange rate policies. Foreign exchange earnings from international trade transactions and external aid are vital for the economic transformation of Less Developed Countries (LDCs). All ... read more

The concept taxation has been in practice in Nigeria prior the advent of British who colonized Nigeria, though it was practiced in various forms by the various communities in the Northern, Western and Eastern Nigeria. In the Northern more definite organized and sophisticated tax system was operational than anywhere else in the country. The following forms of taxation was recognized; Zakat. tax levied on Moslems for charity ,religious and educational purposes. Kurdin-Kasa tax payable on landed pr... read more

Monetary policy and exchange rate are keys tools in economic management and in macroeconomic stabilization and adjustment process in developing countries like Nigeria, where non-inflationary growth and international competitiveness have become major policy targets. Real exchange rate is one broad measure of international competitiveness, while inflation emanates, largely, from monetary expansion, currency devaluation and other structural rigidities in the economy. The question of the exchange ra... read more

There are several factors that affect the performance of banks. In this research work profitability shall be used as the performance indicator of banks. The mostly direct factors that affect profitability are the· regulatory framework under which banks operate. This framework can be divided into two broad aspects: monetary and banking policies. In all economies, these policies are normally rooted through banking institutions because of the vital roles these institutions play in the intermediati... read more

Effectively functioning financial markets have fundamentals roles to play in fostering development. At the level of individual livelihoods, financial markets can perform very crucial functions. They can be a principle means for the poor to get financial assets; through facilitating saving, they can be of importance in reducing the vulnerability associated with uneven and unpredictable year to year changes in circumstances and they help convert illiquid assets into liquid ones in the event of eme... read more

Today widespread poverty is one of the major problems of mankind and its alleviation one of her major agendas. In recent years micro finance has emerged as an important instrument to relieve poverty in the developing countries. Today there are more than 700 micro lending institution providing loans to more than 25 million poor individuals across the world, their vast majority being the women. However, these institutions face some serious challenges, especially in less developed countries wher... read more

Fundamental, poverty IS often described as the state or condition of living in which people have little or no money, assets, or means of support. Some development economists define poverty with particular reference to basic human needs which the individual must have in order to survive a family may be said to have been in poverty when it is unable to satisfy its basic needs. The basic needs concept in its restricted sense is concerned with food, clothing and shelter. Basic needs may includes cle... read more

For both developing and developed countries, small and medium scale firms play important role in the process of industrialization and economic growth. Apart from increasing per capital income and output, SMEs create employment opportunities, enhance regional economic balance through industrial dispersal and generally promote effective resource utilization considered critical to engineering economic development and growth. However, the role played by SMEs, notwithstanding its development is every... read more

Health is the ability to perform one's roles or functions. It helps us develop what we are capable of doing to society at large. Inadequate health contributed directly to redaction in productivity and loss of payment for the individuals, with disastrous consequences for the dependent class, The basic diagnostic point that good health is an integral part of development has therefore come take centre stage in development thinking; this point is due to the fact that only healthy people can earn ... read more