Government at all levels prepares budget annually, however there are inconsistencies in budgetary implementation as government failure to stick to its appropriation bill is always clearly evident. This has resulted in the failure government to meet budgetary obligations as planned such as delay in payment of staff salaries, execution of capital projections to mention a few. This study examined the link between budgetary control and performance with a focus on Bayelsa State of Nigeria as a case study. The study adopted actual expenditure (AEX) representing performance as the dependent variable, while capital expenditure budget (CEB) and recurrent expenditure budget (REB) were used as the independent variables. Time series data on the variables were obtained from the Budget Department of the Ministry of Budget covering the period 2007 to 2016. The type of research design adopted in the study was ex-post facto research design. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis based the E-view version 10 computer software. Based on the findings the study concluded that the two independent variables have no statistical effect on actual budget performance. This means that there was no link between budgetary control and performance in Bayelsa State. The study recommended among others that government should encourage budgetary participation, consider resource availability in budgeting, strive to improve the state internally generated revenue, and employ qualified and highly skilled personnel in budget administration to ensure that budgetary control would bring about improved performance.
Keywords: Capital, Expenditure, Performance, actual, budgetary control, recurrent
