PUBLIC SPENDING AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA (2015-2021)

Since one of the major goals of public spending is to create sustained and equitable economic development, it is mandatory for every government to allocate such across different economic sectors. Unfortunately, for some years in the past, Nigeria has continued to be confronted with the challenge of not making its rising public expenditures to spur the growth of its economy significantly. This study investigates the influence of public spending on the economic growth of Nigeria for the period 2015 to 2021. Specifically, it explores the impact of government spending on administration, health and education on real gross domestic product in Nigeria from 2015 to 2021. Ex-post research approach is employed, while the historical data used are obtained from yearly reports and financial reports of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). OLS and multiple regression are employed for estimation. The results indicate that public spending on health has a positive a weak influence on economic growth in Nigeria, while the impacts of public spending on administration and education on economic growth are weak and negative. Based on the results, the study recommends that the Nigerian government should ensure that total its spending is managed in such manner that will enhance the country’s productive capacity and accelerate its economic growth