Macroeconomic Variables and Private Investment: A Two Dimensional Study from Nigeria Economy

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of macroeconomic variables on private investment in Nigeria for the period 1990 to 2016. To achieve these objectives, the study tests for the study modeled private equity and private real investment as the function exchange rate, financial sector development, and interest rate, openness of the economy, real gross domestic product, inflation rate and broad money supply. Ordinary least square method of data analysis was used. From model one, the study found that real gross domestic product have positive but insignificant effect, openness of the economy have positive and insignificant effect, interest rate have positive and significant effect, financial deepening have positive and insignificant effect while interest rate, inflation rate and exchange rate have negative effect on private real investment. The coefficient of determination (R2) proved that the independent variables can explain 62 percent variation on private real investment; the f- statistics found that the model is significant while the Durbin Watson statistics proved the presence of serial autocorrelation. The effect of macroeconomic variables on private equity investment was presented in model two. The study found that openness of the economy; real gross domestic products, broad money supply, and interest rate have negative and insignificant effect on private equity investment except openness of the economy with significant effect. Inflation rate, financial sector deepening and exchange rate have positive and insignificant effect on private equity investment except financial deepening with significant effect. The R2 proved that the independent variables can predict 66.9 percent variation on private equity investment. The f- statistics found that the model is significant while the Durbin Watson statistics proved the presence of serial autocorrelation. We conclude that macroeconomic variable have significant effect on private investment in Nigeria. We recommend that interest rate must be able to encourage higher private investment by increasing the real interstate on private savings or household savings so that larger amount of income would be saved to accumulate more capital and hence private investment. Policies should be formulated by investors and government to discourage factors that affect negatively private investment.