FG Records N289bn Deficit in Q4 of 2015 – CBN

Fri, Apr 22, 2016
By publisher
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Business Briefs

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THE Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has revealed that the federal government recorded a fiscal deficit of N289.1 billion in its operations in the fourth quarter of 2015. The figures, contained in the economic report of the apex bank, on Tuesday, April 19, stated that the fiscal deficit for the fourth quarter was N158.4 billion higher than the N130.7 billion recorded in the preceding quarter.

The report stated that the federal government could not generate enough revenue to finance its expenditure as a result of some economic challenges. For instance, it noted that during the fourth quarter of 2015, a total of N818.4 billion was generated as revenue by the government, while about N1.1 trillion was spent to finance various programmes.

A breakdown of the total expenditure showed that the recurrent component accounted for 59.6 percent or N655 billion, while capital and statutory transfer components accounted for 31.8 percent or N349.8 billion and 8.6 percent or N94.6 billion, respectively. A further breakdown of the recurrent expenditure showed that non-debt expenditure accounted for 65.7 percent or N430.3 billion, while debt service payments accounted for the balance of N224.6 billion or 34.3 percent.

“At N1.10 trillion, provisional data showed that the Federal Government expenditure for the fourth quarter of 2015 was lower than both the provisional quarterly budget estimate and the level in the preceding quarter by 6.9 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively. The development, relative to the quarterly budget estimate, was attributed mainly to the rise in capital expenditure. A breakdown of the total expenditure showed that the recurrent component accounted for 59.6 percent, while the capital and statutory transfer components accounted for 31.8 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively.

“A further breakdown of the recurrent expenditure showed that the non-debt component accounted for 65.7 percent, while debt service payments accounted for the balance of 34.3 percent. Thus, the fiscal operations of the Federal Government resulted in a deficit of N289.12 billion, compared with the 2015 provisional quarterly budget deficit of N260.25 billion.”

In terms of allocation, the report stated that the total allocation to state governments stood at N413.24 billion in the fourth quarter. Further breakdown of the N413.24 billion showed that receipts from the federation account was N327.90 billion (79.4 percent), while Value Added Tax contributed N85.33 billion (20.6 percent). It stated that the share of the federation account was 17.1 percent lower than the level in the preceding quarter, while receipts from the VAT Pool Account was also 12 percent lower than what it was in the preceding quarter.

—  May 2, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT

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