The use of tax and expenditure policy to regulate the economy is known as

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks for the name of the policy that uses taxation and government expenditure to regulate the economy.

Step 2: Explain the concept

• Fiscal policy: The government's use of taxation, public spending, and borrowing to influence economic activity, such as controlling inflation, reducing unemployment, and encouraging growth. It is handled by the Ministry of Finance and the National Assembly through the national budget.
• Monetary policy: The use of money supply, interest rates, and credit controls to regulate the economy. In Nigeria, this is handled by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Step 3: Check each option

• A. Deregulation: Removing government controls from an industry or market. It does not involve tax and spending policy.
• B. Fiscal policy: Uses tax and government expenditure to manage the economy. This matches the question.
• C. Monetary policy: Works through money supply and interest rates, not tax and spending.
• D. Physical measures: Not a standard economic policy term. It does not fit here.
• E. Structural adjustment: A package of economic reforms, like Nigeria's SAP in 1986, including devaluation and removal of subsidies. It is broader than tax and spending policy.

Step 4: Answer The correct answer is B. Fiscal policy.

Tip: Remember it this way: Fiscal = Finance from the Federal government (taxes and spending). Monetary = Money supply handled by the Monetary authority (CBN). Whenever you see "tax" and "government expenditure" together, think fiscal policy.