The Federal Government recorded N930.8bn fiscal deficit in January and February 2023 according to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The CBN stated in its monthly economic report for February 2023 that;
“The estimated overall fiscal deficit of the FGN expanded in February, due to a drop in the retained revenue.
At N513.05bn, the provisional fiscal deficit of the FGN rose by 22.8 percent relative to the preceding month. However, it was 16.2 percent below the budget benchmark.”
According to the report, the fiscal deficit was N417.75bn in January.
The report said accretion into the federation account decreased by 32.3 percent in February relative to the preceding month, on account of the 60.2 percent fall in oil revenue.
It added that the development led to the expansion of the overall fiscal deficit (provisional) by 22.8 percent due to a 16.4 percent surge in provisional FGN capital expenditure, and a 7.7 percent fall in FGN retained revenue.
Total public debt at N46.25tn (23.2 percent of GDP) at end-December 2022, remained within the 40.0 percent national threshold.
It stated that; “At N1.04tn, federation receipts were below the level in January by 32.3 percent. Similarly, it was below the budget2 of N1.58tn by 34.3 percent.
The decline, relative to January was attributed to a fall in collections from petroleum profit tax and royalties. Oil revenue, at N308.07bn, was 60.2 percent below receipts in the preceding month.
The outcome was driven, largely, by the 60.5 percent decrease in collections from petroleum profit tax and royalties.”
At N730.21bn, non-oil revenue, was below the level in the preceding month and the monthly target by 3.7 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively.
The decrease was largely attributed to the 10.5 percent decline in collections from corporate tax on account of the seasonality associated with its payments.
