GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND THE GROWTH OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISE IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study examines the impact of government policies on the growth of small and medium enterprises in Nigeria from 1999-2022 using Ordinary least Square (OLS) technique method. All data used were secondary data obtained from the statistical bulletin of Central Bank of Nigeria. In executing the study, the OLS technique was applied after determining stationarity of our variables using the ADF Statistic, as well as the cointegration of variables using the Johansen approach. It was discovered that the variables are stationary and have a long term relationship among the variables in the model, From the result of the OLS, it was observed that there is a positive and significant impact of the growth in gross domestic product (GDP) on small and medium enterprise (SME). On the other hand, Taxation (TAX) does not have any significant impact on small and medium enterprise (SME). Based on the above findings, the study recommends that the government should improve on the real GDP. This is important because it gives information about the size of the economy and how an economy is performing. The growth rate of real GDP is often used as an indicator of the general health of the economy which include the SMEs industrial growth.