Government Expenditure and Poverty Reduction in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study has empirically investigated the impact of public expenditure on poverty reduction in Nigeria using Ado – Ekiti Local Government Area of Ekiti State as a case study. A total of one hundred and twenty (120) questionnaires were distributed in the Local Government (10 in each ward) to collect data, out of which the researcher was able to recover one hundred and fifteen (115) copies. The descriptive statistics of frequency count and percentage were used to analyze the demographic characteristics of the respondents while the Chi-square (X²) test was used to analyze each of the hypothesis at 5 percent level of significance. The result of thee Chi-square test revealed that public expenditure on education, health and agriculture has significant impact on poverty reduction. The study therefore recommends that government should increase its expenditure on infrastructure, such as in transport and communication sector, road and power, since it would reduce the cost of doing business as well as raise the profitability of firms. The government should also encourage education, health and agricultural sector through increased funding as well as ensuring that the resources are properly managed in order to raise thee production capacity and accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty.   

Keywords: Government Expenditure, Poverty Profile, Ekiti State