Rising Poverty Incidence And Macroeconomic Policy In Nigeria An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

Most African countries including Nigeria have strived to reduce poverty because of the impediments it lashes on economic growth. Nigeria has joined the rest of the world in reducing poverty evidently by adopting various policies and strategies to minimally reduce & maximally end poverty in such a way that it will boost economic growth. This research uses statistical and econometric tools for the analysis. A priori expectation and OLS regression model were adopted. The proxies used for poverty reduction are Foreign Direct Investment, Foreign Aid, Government expenditure and Tertiary School Enrolment, the core variable is the Real GDP. Attempts were made to interrogate whether poverty reduction is a good instrument for measuring economic growth. The results show that there is a positive relationship between Foreign Direct Investment, Government Expenditure, and Tertiary School Enrolment to economic growth, while there is a negative relationship between foreign aid and economic growth. It was recommended that nations need come together and address some critical issues contributing to poverty that affects economic growth such as inequitable allocation of resources, high birth rate and revenue sharing formulae, etc.