FG Records N524.25bn Fiscal Deficit In One Month

The Federal Government recorded N524.25billion fiscal deficit in May, from N643.09billion in April.
This was obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monthly economic report on fiscal sector development.
It stated that, “The disproportionate reduction in expenditure and revenue outcomes resulted in a contraction in the overall fiscal deficit, during the period.
“Following the 14.0per cent decline in government spending and 7.2per cent fall in FGN retained revenue, the provisional fiscal deficit, at N524.25billion, was 18.5per cent and 1.5per 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 35.8per cent and 7.2per cent, relative to the respective monthly targets.
However, the overall fiscal deficit of the FGN contracted by 1.5per cent, relative to the target, driven, largely, by a 14.0per cent drop in aggregate expenditure.
Total public outstanding debt, at end March, 2022, stood at N41.6trillion or 18.8per cent of GDP, and remained within the 40.0per cent debt-GDP threshold.
The report stated that, “Provisional federally collected revenue in May dropped due to lower non-oil receipts. At N1.02trillion, federation revenue fell below the levels in April and the monthly budget by 22.4per cent and 35.8per cent, respectively.
“The decline was attributed to a 30.4per 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 54.1per cent, while oil revenue constituted the balance of 45.9per cent.”
Oil revenue, at N466.34billion, was above the level in April by 3.6per cent, but fell short of the budget target by 41.1per 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.