Financial Reforms in Nigeria and Its Effect on the Performance of Quoted Manufacturing Firms

Abstract

The study examined the effect of financial reforms on the performance of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study used an expo-facto research design. The study population comprises 44 manufacturing companies quoted at [1], which include Agriculture, Conglomerates, Consumer goods, Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals, Industrial goods, and Natural Resources. Thus, using a study period of 10 years (2010 – 2019) data on financial sector reforms (financial deepening, domestic credit, liquidity, market capitalisation, exchange rate and interest rate) carried out in Nigeria, being the independent variable and on performance (capacity utilization). Panel structured secondary data were collected and analyzed using the Generalized Moment of Methods (GMM) in STATA 15. The financial reform indicators: financial deepening (FDP), domestic credit, market capitalization, liquidity and exchange rate have p-values less than 0.05 (5%) level of significance, thus implying that the financial reforms’ indicators affect the performance as proxied by the capacity utilization of the manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Although, the interest rate which is one of the indicators of financial reforms returns a p-value greater than 0.05 (5%) and thus not having significant effect on the performance of the firms. The study suggested that the manufacturing firms should put measures to optimize the use of accessible funds to ensure optimal capacity utilization, as this will translate into increased productivity, profitability, and financial stability. The government should vigorously pursue monetary policies to ensure the injection of funds into the financial sector, to enhance the capacity of deposit money banks to allocate more credit to the sector at affordable rates. This will enable the optimal operation of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria.