The federal government’s fiscal deficit decreased to N524.25 billion in May from N643.09 billion in April.
This information was taken from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monthly economic report on the progress of the fiscal sector.
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 14.0 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 government’s fiscal operations continued to be based on the current fiscal framework in order to pursue various goals, including macroeconomic stability, revenue collection, and the growth of fiscal space to support infrastructure development.
The federal government and the federation both experienced shortages in revenue in May 2022 of 35.8% and 7.2% in comparison to their respective monthly objectives. However, the FGN’s overall budget deficit decreased by 1.5% compared to the target, mostly due to a 14.0% decline in aggregate spending.
At the end of March 2022, the total public debt was N41.6 trillion, or 18.8% of GDP, and was below the debt-to-GDP ceiling of 40%.
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.”
Oil income, at N466.34 billion, was 3.6% more than in April, although it fell 41.1% short of the budget’s goal. Following the spike in crude oil price, higher earnings from domestic crude oil and gas sales were credited for the increase in oil revenue compared to April.
Gross oil earnings were still being hampered by Premium Motor Spirit’s greater value deficiency recovery.
GOGAN Media.