Interrogating Fiscal Policy for National Economic Growth and Development in Nigeria

Plastic pollution has become a significant environmental, social, and economic issue in Nigeria. Despite the various initiatives and policies put in place, plastic waste management remains a significant challenge in the country. Anti-plastic pollution innovations hold great potential for promoting sustainable development and economic growth in Nigeria. This research aims to examine the extent to which anti-plastic pollution innovations have been adopted, and their diffusion has affected economic growth and sustainable development in Nigeria through climate change communication. Anchored on the Diffusion of Innovations Theory, this research utilized a systematic review of the literature on plastic pollution and sustainable development in Nigeria. The study reveals that despite the various initiatives and policies put in place to manage plastic waste, Nigeria still faces significant environmental, economic, and social challenges. The diffusion of anti-plastic pollution innovations can promote sustainable development by reducing the negative impact of plastic waste on the environment and supporting economic growth. The study finds that the adoption and diffusion of anti-plastic pollution innovations in Nigeria have been slow due to low awareness, limited resources, and inadequate policies and regulatory frameworks. The study concludes that there is a need for increased awareness, collaboration between stakeholders, and policy support to further promote the diffusion of anti-plastic pollution innovations in Nigeria and suggested innovative ways through which climate change communication can be used to aid the diffusion of anti-plastic pollution innovations.

This paper interrogates the rationale behind federal government continued reliance on Keynesian’s fiscal policy prescriptions of deficit financing as a way of spurring sustained economic growth and development in Nigeria, especially when such ideology seems to contrast sharply with the realities of dwindling economic growth indices. In particular, this study investigates the extent both external debt and domestic debt impact on economic growth in Nigeria. Multiple regression method was adopted while Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model was the main technique used in the analysis. The results of the ARDL model demonstrate that external debt (LEXD) and domestic debt (LDD) have a negative impact on LGDP. However, while external debt reveals a significant effect, domestic debt (LDD) has an insignificant impact on LGDP. Thus, the study recommends that government should discontinue the use of external debt to finance budget deficit in the economy, but look inward through aggressive internal revenue generation as well as embrace economic diversification policies, coupled with a drastic cut down on cost of governance in Nigeria.

The cost of governance in Nigeria is often criticized as being excessively high, while others argue that the core issue lies in poor governance. Despite Nigeria's abundant human and natural resources, economic growth remains stagnant, failing to benefit its citizens. This study explores the nexus between government expenditure, governance, and economic growth in Nigeria. The primary objective is to assess whether a significant direct relationship exists between total government expenditure and governance indicators influencing economic growth in the country. Utilizing time-series data from World Bank governance indicators and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the study employs the Structural Equation Model (SEM) path-diagram technique via the maximum likelihood method to estimate the relationships among the variables of interest. Post-diagnostic robust tests validate the findings. The results reveal that increased political instability, violence, and terrorism are directly associated with rising government expenditure and inversely related to economic growth. This suggests that these factors elevate government spending while hampering economic growth. Conversely, government effectiveness is inversely related to total government expenditure and positively impacts economic growth, indicating that improvements in governance reduce expenditure and foster economic progress. Similarly, the rule of law is inversely related to government expenditure and positively associated with economic growth, implying that strengthening the rule of law curtails government spending and enhances economic performance. Additionally, the correlation analysis shows a positive relationship between corruption control and the rule of law, suggesting that enforcing the rule of law can effectively combat corruption in Nigeria.

This work examined the comparative impact of fiscal policy and monetary policy on economic growth in Nigeria over the period 1981 to 2021 using annual time series data on real gross domestic product, broad money supply, government expenditure, total government revenue, and interest rate (lending rate). The objectives are to determine whether the fiscal policy or the monetary policy impacts more on economic growth in Nigeria and to ascertain the causality relationship between fiscal policy, monetary policy and economic growth in Nigeria over the period. The study employed ARDL Bounds Testing methodology in determining whether long run relationship exists between fiscal policy (proxy government expenditure and total government revenue), monetary policy (proxy broad money supply and interest rate (lending rate) and real gross domestic product. The result indicated that broad money supply representing monetary policy has positive relationship with and statistically significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria over the study period as indicated by its t-statistic and probability values of 6.436365 and 0.0000 respectively. Fiscal policy variable (government expenditure), on the other hand, has negative relationship with economic growth and statistically significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria as indicated by its t-statistic and probability values of -2.427968 and 0.0234 respectively. From the result, a change in money supply (monetary policy) affects economic growth positively while a change in Fiscal policy variable (government expenditure) affects economic growth negatively. Besides, the coefficient of monetary policy (0.457048) is greater than fiscal policy coefficient (-0.300554) and implies that monetary policy impacts more than fiscal policy impacts on economic growth in Nigeria. Therefore monetary policy does impact more than Fiscal policy on economic growth in Nigeria over the period studied. The result further indicated that there is no significant causality relationship between fiscal policy, monetary policy and economic growth in Nigeria over the period covered as indicated by the probability values of both fiscal and monetary policy variables employed and economic growth. The study therefore recommends that policy makers should focus more on monetary policy than fiscal policy so as to enhance economic growth since monetary policy has more concern with economic growth than fiscal policy. Keywords: Economic growth, fiscal policy, monetary policy, ARDL, Bound Test, Causality, Nigeria.

The general objective of the study is to examine the relationship between revenue generation and economic growth in Nigeria. Ex-post facto research design was used with secondary data collected from CBN database (2012-2022). The dependent variable was economic growth and measured by gross domestic product GDP while the independent variables was revenue generation and measured by oil and non-oil revenue. The study adopt usage the autoregressive distributed lag ARDL model for the data analysis which shows the long-run relationship between revenue generation and economic growth in Nigeria. It was discovered that oil revenue (OILR) exerts an insignificant positive effect on economic growth in Nigeria in the long run at 5% significant value. It implies that a unit increase in oil revenue will lead to 3.709184 units increase in economic growth in Nigeria. Conversely, non-oil revenue has a positive and significant coefficient of 1.257631 units. This implies that a unit increase in non- oil revenue will bring about 1.257631 units increase in economic growth in Nigeria in the long. The study recommends that effort should be made by the governments to diversify the main revenue source from oil to other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, extractive industries in order to increase revenue generated from other sources

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of sectoral utilization of foreign exchange and the policy implications for economic growth in Nigeria.
 Methodology: The methodology involved the use of annual time series data covering 1997 to 2022 for pre-diagnostic tests for unit roots which showed that the variables used in the study: economic growth (proxied by real gross domestic product), visible transactions, invisible transactions, treasury bill rate, and exchange rate, were stationary in the first difference. Hence, after first differencing the data, the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation method was used to estimate the model.
 Findings: The findings of the study showed that visible and invisible foreign exchange utilization valid for foreign exchange transactions, in addition to exchange rate and Treasury bill rate impacted positively and significantly on economic growth in Nigeria during the study period. The results of the study strengthened the theoretical basis for the use of relevant policies to grow economies generally, and that of Nigeria in particular.
 Unique contributor to theory, policy and practice: By implication, the governments at all tiers should endeavor to provide the enabling environment for greater availability and utilization of foreign exchange to further improve economic growth and sustainable development in Nigeria.

This study examines the relationship between Tax Revenue and Nigeria Economic Growth. In order to achieve this objective, data was gathered through secondary means. Tax Revenue is proxy by Petroleum Profit Tax, Value Added Tax and Companies Income Tax, while Economic Growth is proxy by Gross Domestic Product. Data collected were analyzed with the aid of the Stata computer software. The study revealed that Petroleum Profit Tax (oil tax revenue) has a positive but no significant relationship with Nigeria Economic Growth, while Value Added Tax and Companies Income Tax (non-oil Tax Revenue) have significant relationship with Nigeria Economic Growth. The study recommends that government should minimize the wide spread corruption and leakages prevalent in tax administration in Nigeria, and transparently and judiciously account for tax revenue generated through the provision of more quality public goods and services, and need not to increase the rates of Value Added Tax and Companies Income Tax in the short run, but to closely monitor the operations of companies engaged in petroleum operations to minimize tax evasion, and as well as support the development of entrepreneurial activities in order to significantly increase Tax Revenue so as to sustain the significant relationship of VAT and CIT (non-oil tax) revenue with Nigeria Economic Growth.

This study examines the relationship between Tax Revenue and Nigeria Economic Growth. In order to achieve this objective, data was gathered through secondary means. Tax Revenue is proxy by Petroleum Profit Tax, Value Added Tax and Companies Income Tax, while Economic Growth is proxy by Gross Domestic Product. Data collected were analyzed with the aid of the Stata computer software. The study revealed that Petroleum Profit Tax (oil tax revenue) has a positive but no significant relationship with Nigeria Economic Growth, while Value Added Tax and Companies Income Tax (non-oil Tax Revenue) have significant relationship with Nigeria Economic Growth. The study recommends that government should minimize the wide spread corruption and leakages prevalent in tax administration in Nigeria, and transparently and judiciously account for tax revenue generated through the provision of more quality public goods and services, and need not to increase the rates of Value Added Tax and Companies Income Tax in the short run, but to closely monitor the operations of companies engaged in petroleum operations to minimize tax evasion, and as well as support the development of entrepreneurial activities in order to significantly increase Tax Revenue so as to sustain the significant relationship of VAT and CIT (non-oil tax) revenue with Nigeria Economic Growth.

The study investigates the relationship between oil price, revenue variation and economic growth in Nigeria. The study makes use of a secondary data spanning 1981 and 2016. The Auto‐regressive Distributed Lag was used to analyse the long‐run and short‐run relationship among the variables. The short‐run result shows that oil price and oil revenue positively significantly relates with economic growth, while consumer price index and exchange rate negatively relates with economic growth. In the long‐run, oil price, consumer price index and exchange rate positively relates with economic growth, while oil revenue negatively relates with economic growth. This implies that oil revenue has not been channelled in the direction of enhancing growth in Nigeria, while oil price has been in favour reason been that it determines a larger percentage of the country's revenue. From the findings, the study concludes that variations in oil price and oil revenue are strong determinant factors of economic growth in Nigeria. A major recommendation is that, oil revenue should be restructured towards the strategic sectors of the economy to aid the growth in Nigeria.

The raison d’etre of a local government is to collect its revenue efficiently and to use that revenue to provide infrastructural development for its tax payers. Local government as the third tier of government cannot, therefore be ideal from the financial view lens if it collects its revenue in a slip-shod manner and devotes a large percentage of it to the maintenance of a top- heavy administrative set-up, with a relatively small proportion of the revenue left for the provision of infrastructural development which are of direct benefits to the local inhabitants. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine local government accountability in respect of budget and budgeting system in order to improve sustainable development at the local level. The paper tries to study the main source of revenue of local governments in Nigeria, and determine how the resources are utilized to deliver infrastructural development to the people. Also, information on budget and budgeting of Irepo local government is analyzed in the study. There are 774 local governments in Nigeria. This research study covers 33 local governments in terms of disbursement of statutory allocation, and Irepo local government in terms of budget and budgeting analysis. As far back as 1999, the Nigerian local governments are being given enough by the Federal Government in order to provide infrastructural development to the citizens in the local area, but it seems the said public revenue are being mismanaged by political leaders and local governments’ officials in Nigeria. The findings of this paper revealed that 10% is used for personnel expenditure as the cost of delivering infrastructural development by local governments in Nigeria. So, further researches can still be carried out on fiscal planning by local governments for sustainable development in the remaining local governments in Nigeria. This paper therefore recommended that the policy/decision-makers should make use of the findings of this study to help inform future decisions on fiscal planning in the local government administration in order to bring about sustainable development to the rural dwellers in the local governments. It is found that there is need for proactive measure for fiscal planning in order to sustain infrastructural development in the local government administration. Also found, is that local governments need to put in place a good fiscal planning that will sustain development at the local level. Key words: Fiscal planning, sustainable development, local government.

This study examined the relationship between fiscal federalism, governance and local government finances in Nigeria, focusing on the administration of local governments and other subsidiary issues on revenue generation in the country. It analysed the legal, institutional and procedural mechanisms for administration, as well as assessed the effect of intergovernmental relations on local government under federal system of governance in the country. This is with a view to providing information on revenue allocation and intergovernmental relations as important elements in understanding and addressing the fiscal federalism on local council finance in Nigeria in the context of their divergent governance experiences since the fourth republic.The paper discovered that beyond the function of revenue generation or allocation, fiscal relations influenced governance positively by creating the expediency of transparency and responsiveness in government as well as a corresponding three levels of government has responsibilities and roles to play in the lives of citizenry in order to bring governance to the grassroots. However, the work found evidences of lack of fiscal autonomy and independent of local government as well as delay in local government election has resulted to poor performance of local administration in Nigeria at large. The results also revealed that a very important factor affecting the local government administration in Nigeria still remains the overbearing contribution of about 93% oil revenue to the national income; a situation that, both state and local governments in Nigeria cannot generate up to twenty five percent (25%) of their expenditure and poor tax culture amongst the citizenry. The study concluded among others that effective human resources, improved strategy, and enhanced capacity building, are critical to improved revenue generation and allocation, which in turn could go a long way to alleviating good governance in Nigeria.

Successive governments in Nigeria have made a singsong of sustainable development. Various development plans have come and gone in budgets and policy documents, the latest being the Transformation Agenda of the Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal government. Is sustainable development a hallmark of good governance? What role can communication play in the interplay between good governance and sustainable development? What is the measure of communication effectiveness? This paper examines the interplay among these seemingly distinct variables in a society marked by such sensitive issues as hunger, unemployment, injustice, political brigandage, massive corruption and profligacy. It draws out measurable lessons on the lopsidedness of communication flow through government owned mass media and systemic obstacles that militate against the attainment of good governance and sustainable development in Nigeria. Consequently, the paper recommends a constructive synergy of the key factors that should enhance the well-being of Nigerians.

This study investigated the impact of godfatherism on power dynamics and economic growth in Nigeria, addressing a research gap on the specific mechanisms through which political patronage affects governance and economic outcomes. Focusing on the Owerri Education Zone in Imo State, the study explored the depth of godfatherism’s influence, its operational mechanisms, and potential strategies for mitigation. Using a descriptive survey design, data were collected from a sample of 400 participants, including political analysts, government officials, and members of the electorate, selected from a population of over 300,000 through stratified random sampling. A structured questionnaire, validated by experts, was administered to gather insights on the role of godfatherism in resource allocation and economic policy manipulation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, with mean and standard deviation employed to summarize responses. The findings revealed that godfatherism significantly undermines economic growth by prioritizing powerful individuals’ interests, often at the expense of broader societal needs. Specific mechanisms, including political patronage, electoral financing, and policy manipulation, emerged as key pathways through which resource inequality and corruption are sustained. Notably, 68% of respondents identified policy manipulation as a primary factor in resource misallocation. The study contributes to the literature by offering empirical evidence of godfatherism’s economic effects and recommending reforms, including legal frameworks, enhanced electoral processes, civic education, and accountability mechanisms, to curb its influence. These insights are critical for policymakers aiming to foster transparent governance and sustainable development in Nigeria.

This research work examined Effect of Fiscal and Monetary Policy Instruments on Economic Growth of Nigeria from 1985-2016. The study was anchored mainly on the quantity theory of money. The researcher used secondary data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin from 1985-2016. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as Mean, Standard Deviation and Skewness and the relationship between the variables of the model was tested using Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) regression analysis after the data was found to be stationary and integrated of different orders. The result of the ARDL regression analysis shows that monetary policy rate having a positive relationship with real gross domestic product is unexpected owing to its ultimate effect on prime lending rate which affects productive economic activities. Government recurrent expenditure was found to have positive significant relationship with economic growth. Accordingly, the long run relationship between monetary policy, fiscal policy instruments and economic growth in Nigeria points to the critical role of the monetary policy decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Government fiscal policy programmes on growth and development of economy. This study concludes that monetary policy measured by monetary policy rate and the fiscal policies proxied by government recurrent expenditure have not significantly affected economic growth in Nigeria. It was recommended that the Central Bank of Nigeria should further develop the financial sector through making more funds available to the private sector by reducing monetary policy rate which affects interest rate ceiling on loans to the private sector. And that the Central Bank of Nigeria should further develop the financial sector through making more funds available to the private sector by reducing monetary policy rate which affects interest rate ceiling on loans to the private sector.

Nigeria's fiscal policy faces challenges due to corruption, weak frameworks, and lack of fiscal discipline. The low tax-to-GDP ratio indicates untapped revenue potential. However, the country has considerable economic potential due to its population and natural resources. This study examined the effect of oil tax revenue on economic growth in Nigeria between 1986 to 2022. Autoregressive distributed lag modelling was used. The results indicate that oil tax revenue significantly drives economic growth in Nigeria, with a positive coefficient of 0.1966, meaning that an increase in oil tax revenue leads to a proportional increase in the long-run real GDP. However, the debt service ratio negatively impacts economic growth, as its increase leads to a decrease in log of real GDP (LRGDP). Although labor force and investment growth show positive coefficients, their effects on economic growth are statistically insignificant. Based on the study’s findings, the study recommended that the Nigerian government focus on enhancing the efficiency of oil tax revenue collection. This can be achieved by addressing challenges such as tax evasion, improving transparency, and ensuring that oil tax revenues are properly utilized for national development projects. An efficient oil tax revenue administration system would help boost the contributions of the oil sector to the national economy, which is crucial for sustained economic growth.