Nigeria’s budget deficit spending notched up N7.052 trillion in the 11 months ending November 2021 (11M, 2021), a 33% increase against N5.32 trillion in 11M, 2020, spurred by a mixture of low oil receipts, corruption, and stealing of funds.
Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, who disclosed this at the public presentation of the 2022 Budget in Abuja, said that deficit spending rose to N7.052 trillion instead of N5.911 trillion prorate.
The sum is 9.2 percent above the N6.449 trillion deficit in the 2021 Budget.
Recall that last December, deficit spending had risen 39% year-on-year to N5.5 trillion in eight months ending August (8M, 2021), from N3.97 trillion in (8M, 2020), based on Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), data.
Ahmed said the 2021 Budget implementation report is provisional, capturing only the first 11 months; meaning that deficit spending could be higher when the report for the full year is concluded.
As of November 2021, she added, aggregate revenue was N5.51 trillion (74% of target), stressing that the economy would not have exited the recent recession without the deficit spending.
Her words: “Having witnessed two economic recessions we have had to spend our way out of recession, which contributed significantly to the growth in the public debt”.
On the 2021 Budget performance, Ahmed said: “FGN share of oil revenues was N970.3 billion (representing 53% performance of the prorated sum in the 2021 budget). FGN share of non-oil tax revenues totaled N1.62 trillion (118.8% over and above the target)”.
“Companies Income Tax (CIT) and Value-Added Tax (VAT) collections were N718.58 billion and N360.56 billion, representing 115% and 165% respectively of the pro-rata targets for the period”, the minister further stated.
