Government Expenditure and Sap in Nigeria: An Empirical Perspective

Abstract

This study examines the impact of government expenditure for infrastructure on economic growth before and after the introduction of SAP in Nigeria, using annual data for the period of 1970 to 2022. Data were sourced from CBN Statistical Bulletin on government spending on transport, communication, health, education, and utilities sectors. Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test and Auto Regressive Distributed Lag Model were employed as analytical tools for the study. The results show a positive short run effect of growth rate of government spending on transportation sector, communication sector, health sector, education sector and utility sector on economic growth in Nigeria during the pre-SAP and SAP periods. The opposite becomes the case to cover from the post-SAP period till date not minding the period anchored a lot more of government policies targeted at the economic development of Nigeria. The study therefore recommends that government should ensure that what is annually budgeted for infrastructural development in the country should be judiciously and economically spent in other to attain economic growth.