THE EFFECT OF GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE AND MONEY SUPPLY ON UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA
Keywords:
Unemployment, Government expenditure, Money supply, Public debt, Exchange rate, DevelopmentAbstract
This study examined the effect of government expenditure, money supply, exchange rate and public debt on unemployment in Nigeria. Data for the study was sourced from various issues of the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin for the period 1985 to 2014. The study employed multiple regression technique to analyze data and test the hypotheses. The regression results showed that the macroeconomic tools such as government expenditure, money supply, exchange rate and public debt, adopted in the study are significant in combating unemployment in Nigeria.
Government expenditure, money supply and public debt had statistically significant positive effect on unemployment. But exchange rate on the other hand had a statistically significant negative impact on unemployment. This means government can control unemployment by manipulating any of these tools to achieve desired goals in Nigeria. The study recommended that policy makers and the managers of the economy of Nigeria should consider the need to establish an enabling environment with accountability and transparency to tackle unemployment to bring about sustained economic development and growth It was also suggested that government should increase it’s spending on the economy by identifying projects and programs that would create more jobs since it has been established that government spending can create more jobs.
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