Demand for money in a debt-constrained economy: a case study of Nigeria

Abstract

Studies in Nigeria on the demand for money had often centred around finding a stable function using variables such as income, interest rate, inflation, exchange rate or foreign interest rate. This study considers the impact of debt (external sector variable) on demand for money. In particular, the debt service ratio has been shown empirically to influence demand for money. The model, estimated with debt service taken into account, was found to be very stable. Hence, on the basis of this empirical finding, it is recommended that debt-service be considered an appropriate policy tool of monetary control. The two measures of exchange rate, parallel and official, showed no significant difference in the two models the study relied on, but model 1 was found to encompass model 2.