Federal Government of Nigeria has recorded N524.25 billion fiscal deficit in the month of May, just as it recorded N643.09 billion in April 2022.
The detail was contained in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monthly economic report on fiscal sector development for the country.
“The disproportionate reduction in expenditure and revenue outcomes resulted in a contraction in the overall fiscal deficit, during the period,” said the report.
The report added, “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 N524.25bn, was 18.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent below the level in April and the budget benchmark, respectively.”
The extant fiscal framework to pursue macroeconomic stability remains the anchor of government’s fiscal operations, income generation, and the expansion of fiscal space to boost infrastructural development, among other objectives are also part of it.
The federation and the Federal Government recorded shortfalls of 35.8 per cent and 7.2 per cent in May, 2022, 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 N41.6tn or 18.8 per cent of GDP, and remained within the 40.0 per cent debt-GDP threshold.
Also Read
VP Osinbajo rallies APC governors on economy, ASUU strike
The report stated that, “Provisional federally collected revenue in May dropped due to lower non-oil receipts. At N1.02tn, 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.”
For 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.