FG Records N247.44bn Deficit In Q42017, Says CBN Report

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Thursday released its Economic Report for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2017, highlight of which included that the federally government continues to experience a shortfall between budget projection and actual receipt, even as its expenditure side never seem to drop.

According to the report, the Federal Government recorded an estimated deficit of N247.44bn in the period under review, which was however lower, when compared with the N589.19bn in the preceding quarter.
This followed a N2.04tr total revenue collected, representing, 24% down from N2.684tr budget estimate for the quarter; and 11.9% drop when compared with receipt for the preceding quarter.

Within the period, estimated retained revenue of the Federal Government was N731.61bn, while total expenditure was N979.05bn, resulting in an estimated deficit of N247.44bn.
The report blamed the development on the shortfall in both oil and non-oil revenue during the period, owing “to the drop in crude oil production, arising from leakages and shut-ins/shut-downs at some NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) terminals.
Total oil receipt stood at N1.226tr or 60.1% of total revenue, it was lower than both the proportionate quarterly budget estimate and the receipts in the preceeding quarter by 9.1% and 3.5%, respectively.

Total non-oil revenue was N814.55bn or 39.9% of the total, down from the proportionate quarterly budget estimate of N1.335tr by 39%, just as was below the third quarter level by 22.1%.
“The lower non-oil revenue relative to the proportionate quarterly budget estimate was due to the shortfall in most of its components except Customs Special Levies (Federation Account component) during the review period.”

The CBN also reported $14.71bn foreign exchange inflow, compared to an outflow of $8.38bn, respectively, resulting in a net inflow of US$6.33bn; while forex sales to the authorised dealers amounted to US$5.08bn, compared with US$6.49bn in the preceding quarter.

“The average exchange rate of the naira vis-à-vis the US dollar at the investor and exporter window appreciated by 0.5% to N360.47/US$, while the rate at the inter-bank segment depreciated marginally by 0.1% to N305.96/US$ at end-December 2017.”

Total deposits at the CBN amounted to N13.172tr, representing 7.5% increase over the level at the end of the third quarter of 2017, arising from deposits of banks, Federal Government and “Others” in the review quarter.

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