MANAGEMENT OF SECTORAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE AND THE NIGERIAN ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between sectoral government expenditure and the Nigerian economic performance from 1985 to 2016. The research design adopted for this research is the ex-post facto research design. The study anchored its theory on the Endogenous Growth Theory. Nigerian economic performance which is the dependent variable in this study was measured by Gross Domestic Product while sectoral government expenditure which is the independent variable was proxied by government expenditure on education, government expenditure on agriculture and government expenditure on health. An econometric model was developed to ascertain the relationship between measure of economic performance and proxies of sectoral government expenditure while the model was estimated by Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method of regression. The data used in the study were obtained from the CBN statistical bulletin and the data analysis was facilitated by Econometric views (E-views) statistical software 8.0. The findings of the study showed that: government expenditure on education has a positive and significant relationship with Gross Domestic Product in Nigeria, government expenditure on agriculture has an insignificant positive relationship with Gross Domestic Product in Nigeria while government expenditure on health has a positive and significant relationship with Gross Domestic Product in Nigeria. The study concluded that sectoral government expenditure has significant positive relationship with the Nigerian economic performance. The study recommended that government should ensure that sectoral expenditure are properly managed in a manner that will raise the nation’s productive capacity and improve economic performance.