- By Halimah Olamide
“As a result, the government continues to drift away from fiscal responsibility by borrowing more than it earns, resulting in a deficit of N13.50tn.” Budgit concluded.
Nigerian civic organization, BudgIT has accused the Federal government of drifting away from its fiscal responsibility.
This was contained in its latest released report on Monday via X.
Budgit noted that the 2023 Fiscal Accounts Report of the Accountant General of the Federation, Nigeria’s Federal Government made a revenue of N5.99tn, spent N19.50tn, and recorded a deficit of N13.50tn, which represents 225% of the total revenue.
Furthering the breakdown, BudgIT stated that the government spent more than three times what it earned in revenue.
According to the organization, the revenues were generated from different sources.
“N3.80 trillion came from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), FG share of independent revenue raked in N1.98tn
“The FG share of the Federation Account contributed N2.39tn, exchange rate differences was N715.75bn, while VAT added N441.87bn,” BudgIT stated
However, debt servicing, it revealed, took up 43.9% of the budget at N8.56tn which was the largest single expense.
Meanwhile, non debt spending took up 27.8% at N5.42tn, while capital expenditure was 23% at N4.49tn.
It noted that the above represents that a larger percentage of government spending was directed toward debt servicing, surpassing the revenue generated.
“As a result, the government continues to drift away from fiscal responsibility by borrowing more than it earns, resulting in a deficit of N13.50tn.” Budgit concluded.
Experts believe that Nigeria’s economic woes stem from lack of fiscal discipline; relying on unearned revenue and projecting on vague indices.