Public expenditure can be defined as,
| “ | The expenditure incurred by public authorities like central, state and local governments to satisfy the collective social wants of the people is known as public expenditure. | ” |
It is basically spending made by the government of a country on citizens' needs on items such as pension, provision, infrastructure etc. Public expenditure was restricted only to a small extent till 19th century due to laissez faire followed by the government, as classical then believed money left in private hands could bring better returns. It was only in 20th century when John Maynard Keynes pointed out the important role of public expenditure in determining the level of income and distribution in the economy. Since then government’s expenditure has shown an increasing trend.
Read more about Public Expenditure: Causes of Growth of Public Expenditure
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