FG records N725bn fiscal deficit in first quarter

The Federal Government recorded a deficit
of N725.18 billion in its fiscal operations in
the first quarter of 2016, according to data
released, Monday, by the Central Bank of
Nigeria, CBN.
The CBN, in its Economic Report for the
First Quarter of 2016, attributed the deficit
to an expenditure of N1.23 trillion, over
retained earnings of N505.1 billion in the
period under review. The deficit, the report
said, was as a result of a decline in oil and
non-oil revenues and a rise in capital
expenditure in the quarter under review.
The dip in oil earnings was attributed to a
sharp drop in oil and gas export, low price of
crude oil in the international market and the
persistent disruption in petroleum export due
to vandalisation and production shut-ins.
Buhari According to the report, the
estimated fiscal deficit of N725.18 billion
indicated an increase of 178.6 per cent
above the 2015 provisional quarterly budget
deficit of N260.25 billion.
The CBN also stated that the Federal
Government’s expenditure for the first
quarter was 3.4 per cent higher than the
provisional quarterly budget estimate, but
was below level in the fourth quarter of 2015
by 20.3 per cent. Specifically, breakdown of
total expenditure showed that recurrent
expenditure accounted for 72.8 per cent of
the total, while capital and statutory
transfers accounted for 18 and 9.2 per cent,
respectively.