FG Records N524.25bn Fiscal Deficit in One Month

Dike Onwuamaeze

The federal government recorded N524.25 billion fiscal deficits in May, from N643.09 billion in April.

The figure was revealed in the monthly economic report of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on fiscal sector development.

The report revealed that the disproportionate reduction in expenditure and revenue outcomes resulted in a contraction in the overall fiscal deficit, during the period.

It said: “Following the 14.0 per cent decline in government spending and 7.2 per cent fall in FGN retained revenue, the provisional fiscal deficit, at N524.25 billion, was 18.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent below the level in April and the budget benchmark, respectively.”

The government’s fiscal operations remained anchored on the extant fiscal framework to pursue macroeconomic stability, income generation, and the expansion of fiscal space to boost infrastructural development, among other objectives.

The revenue challenge persisted in May 2022, as the federation and the federal government recorded shortfalls of 35.8 per cent and 7.2 per cent, relative to the respective monthly targets. However, the overall fiscal deficit of the FGN contracted by 1.5 per cent, relative to the target, driven, largely, by a 14.0 per cent drop in aggregate expenditure.

Total public outstanding debt, at end March 2022, stood at N41.6 trillion or 18.8 per cent of GDP, and remained within the 40.0 per cent debt-GDP threshold.

The report stated that, “Provisional federally collected revenue in May dropped due to lower non-oil receipts. At N1.02 trillion, federation revenue fell below the levels in April and the monthly budget by 22.4 per cent and 35.8 per cent, respectively.

“The decline was attributed to a 30.4 per cent shortfall in nonoil receipts, relative to the target.

“In terms of share, non-oil revenue maintained its dominance in gross federation receipts, accounting for 54.1 per cent, while oil revenue constituted the balance of 45.9 per cent.”

Oil revenue, at N466.34bn, was above the level in April by 3.6 per cent, but fell short of the budget target by 41.1 per cent. The increase in oil revenue relative to April was attributed to increased earnings from domestic crude oil and gas sales, following the surge in crude oil price.

However, higher value shortfall recovery, for Premium Motor Spirit continued to weigh on gross oil earnings.