Of public expenditure and the economy

• Published date: 09 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

By Felix Oladeji

SIR: Over the years, the size, structure and growth of government expenditure have increased tremendously and become increasingly complex. Not only has recent political developments engendered expenditure growth, the challenge of raising additional and identifying alternative sources of revenue to meet the ever increasing needs of governance have made it more imperative to take a more focused look at government activities, especially its expenditures.

Pigou in his legendary book Public Finance noted that in every developed society there is some form of government organization. The governing authority, whether central or local is endowed with functions and duties, the detailed nature of which varies in different places. These duties involve expenditure and, consequently, required also the raising of revenue. Although, this perception of what a government and its accompanying responsibility was, had undergone tremendous transformation, both in size and complexities over time, the underlying concept of public expenditure as a veritable instrument through which government policy choices are carried out remains intrinsically unaltered in today's economies.

However, the government over the years have proven to be bad managers of resources, which is why there is a global trend towards market-oriented system of economic management. Nigeria's experience in public expenditure management has not been quite inspiring. The current economic crises, with the...