PUBLIC FINANCE: IMPACT ON THE GROWTH OF THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY

This paper examined the public finance: Impact on the growth of the Nigeria economy, using time series data from 1960 to 2013. The paper employed secondary data sourced from National Bureau of Statistics, Journals and Financial Review of Central Bank of Nigeria. The study employed E-view 8.0 statistical output as a window in exploring the possible links between public finance and/or economic growth. The results revealed that public finance has a direct relationship with economic growth which statistically significant at 5% level as discovered from the results of the various diagnostic tests. From the result of the findings, the study recommended that government should ensure that funds are internally generated for running government in Nigeria; intensify effort to strengthening its source of public revenue; the citizens of Nigeria should be encouraged strictly to adhere to the payment of taxes, fees and/or fines; government should ensure that the internally generated funds are expended judiciously in Nigeria; the last resort of the government when the entire sources of the funds were explored is borrowing; in case there are macroeconomic variable disequilibria, the government should opt for proactive policy (.i.e., fiscal policy or monetary policy in order to adjust the trend (s) in the economy; there is the need for the government to sky-up its capital expenditure in Nigeria; and/or corruption is a menace in any economy, therefore, government should wedge a war against it all its ramifications; and/or hence economic growth.