Evaluation of the Effect of Nigeria’s International Trade Policies on its Economic Growth

Abstract

The study investigated the performance of Nigeria’s international trade policies and its effect on the economic growth of Nigeria from 1984 to 2019. The major problem of the study is that the promotion of economic growth is one of the major objectives of international trade but, in recent times, this has not been the case because the Nigerian economy is still experiencing major elements of economic instability such as price instability, high level of unemployment, gross insecurity and adverse balance of payments. The study adopted time series data for the periods 1984 - 2018. The ARDL regression method and descriptive analysis were employed to establish the relationship between the variables of the study. The findings revealed that Trade openness (TOP) has a negative and significant relationship with GRGDP. A unit increase in TOP results in 17.533 decrease in GRGDP.  The study recommended that the Central Bank of Nigeria should review its exchange rate policies as regards the import and export (I&E) window to stimulate production and export of goods and services from the country since the existing policies yielded negative results in the period of the study. This will promote export and enhance Nigeria’s balance of payment and external reserves.