An assessment of the impact of fiscal and monetary policies coordination on health outcomes in Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of fiscal and monetary policy coordination on health outcomes in Nigeria from 1980 to 2021. The study adopted an ex-post factor research design hinged on Grossman’s health demand and production theory as its theoretical framework with secondary time series data sourced from World Development Indicators (WDI) between1980-
2021. The data were analysed using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL). From the results, while government health expenditure (GHE) has no significant contribution to the improvement in health outcomes, monetary policy impacted significantly on health outcomes in Nigeria. Infant mortality rate (IMR) is shown to have positive and significant effects on past values in the first and fourth lagged with 2.21 and 0.54 coefficients respectively at a 5% significant level. Similarly, government health expenditure (GHE) significantly positively impacts on Infant mortality rate (IMR) 10% level level of significance, which complies with the a priori expectation. The study concluded that both government health expenditure and monetary policy stimulate the reduction in the infant mortality rates in Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommended an integrated approach to ensure the coordination of fiscal and monetary policies in addressing both government health expenditure and health outcomes simultaneously, through increased fiscal spending on healthcare infrastructures such as spending on hospitals, clinics, and healthcare personnel, to enhance the overall health system.