Budget Deficit and Economic Growth in Nigeria: An Empirical Analysis

This study was expected to investigate the impact of Budget Deficit on economic growth of Nigeria between 1983 and 2023. Ex – post facto research design was accepted; annual time series data for analyses were collected from Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin of 2022. Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) was used as the explained or dependent variable proxy for economic growth. budget deficit (BDF), inflation (INF) and money supply (MS) all represent explanatory or independent variables. The study employed Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model which was used to analyzed and evaluate the coefficients of the model’s parameters. Other diagnostic tests employed by this study include; unit root test, descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient matrix, Cointegration test and test of Normality, and they confirmed the validity and reliability of the model used; the inferential results showed that budget deficits impacted significantly on the economic growth of Nigeria under the review period. The paper recommended strongly that the country should display a high degree of transparency in its fiscal policies or operations by directing its fiscal deficits present towards investments that will increase productivity such as building roads, providing electricity and encouraging Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). The paper equally recommended inflation targeting in order to achieve a non-inflationary trend economy purposely to achieve the macroeconomic goal of price stability. The policy makers should direct capital and financial resources of government toward targeted programs like employment opportunity in productive ventures.