Federal Government recorded N289bn fiscal deficit in Q4 – Central Bank of Nigeria
The Federal Government recorded a fiscal
deficit of N289.1bn in its operations in the fourth quarter of 2015,
figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria revealed.
The figures, contained in the economic
report of the apex bank, a copy of which was obtained by our
correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday, stated that the fiscal deficit for
the fourth quarter was N158.4bn higher than the N130.7bn 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 N818.4bn was generated as revenue by
the government, while about N1.1tn was spent to finance various
programmes.
A breakdown of the total expenditure
showed that the recurrent component accounted for 59.6 per cent or
N655bn, while capital and statutory transfer components accounted for
31.8 or N349.8bn and 8.6 per cent or N94.6bn, respectively.
A further breakdown of the recurrent
expenditure showed that non-debt expenditure accounted for 65.7 per cent
or N430.3bn, while debt service payments accounted for the balance of
N224.6bn or 34.3 per cent.
The report read in part, “At N1.10tn,
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 and 5.8
per cent, 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 per cent, while the capital and
statutory transfer components accounted for 31.8 and 8.6 per cent,
respectively.”
The report added, “A further breakdown
of the recurrent expenditure showed that the non-debt component
accounted for 65.7 per cent, while debt service payments accounted for
the balance of 34.3 per cent.
“Thus, the fiscal operations of the
Federal Government resulted in a deficit of N289.12bn, compared with the
2015 provisional quarterly budget deficit of N260.25bn.”
In terms of allocation, the report
stated that the total allocation to state governments stood at N413.24bn
in the fourth quarter.
Further breakdown of the N413.24bn
showed that receipts from the Federation Account was N327.90bn (79.4 per
cent), while Value Added Tax contributed N85.33bn (20.6 per cent).
It stated that the share of the
Federation Account was 17.1 per cent lower than the level in the
preceding quarter, while receipts from the VAT Pool Account was also 12
per cent lower than what it was in the preceding quarter.
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