This study aims at empirically exploring the short- and long-run relationships between economic growth, non-performing loans, interest rates and the credit demand by the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Aceh province, Indonesia. The... more
This study aims at empirically exploring the short- and long-run relationships between economic growth, non-performing loans, interest rates and the credit demand by the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Aceh province, Indonesia. The quarterly data for the period 1995 to 2015 were analyzed by the cointegration and vector error correction model (VECM). The study documented that there was a cointegration among the economic growth, non-performing loans, interest rates and the credit demand, implying the existence of long-run equilibrium among the variables. In addition, in short-run, the study found a unidirectional causality from economic growth to credit demand, a bidirectional causality between interest rates and credit demand, while no causality existed between non-performance loan and credit demand by the SMEs in Aceh, Indonesia. Thus, to enhance the SMEs, the government should focus on promoting the economic growth by managing the stability of interest rates in the province.
