A civic tech organisation, BudgIT, on Monday disclosed that the federal government incurred a deficit of N13.50 trillion in 2023, an amount three times above N5.99 trillion it earned in revenue the same year.
On its X handle, BudgIT revealed that the government spent N19.50 trillion in 2023 thereby making it to borrow money to cover the deficit of N13.50 trillion in
“According to 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 was 225% of the total revenue,” BudgIT stated on its X handle.
Giving a breakdown of how the FG generated the revenue, it stated that N3.80 trillion of the revenue came from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) while the federal government share of independent revenue raked in N1.98 trillion.
It added that the federal government got N2.39 trillion as its share of the Federation Account while value added tax (VAT) contributed N441.87 billion.
However, it noted that a large chunk of the earnings; N8.56 trillion which was 43.9 percent of the budget, was used to service debt resulting in inability of the government to meet up with its fiscal responsibilities.
BudgIT further stated that capital expenditure was 23 percent at N4.49 trillion.
“It goes without saying that a significant portion 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 stated.
