The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning in Nigeria, Zainab Ahmed, says the Federal Government has generated N3.93 trillion or 73 per cent of its target of N7.9 trillion revenue for 2021.
Ahmed made the disclosure on Friday in the capital Abuja when she appeared at the Public Presentation and Breakdown of the Federal Government 2022 Appropriation Bill.
President Muhammadu Buhari presented the N16.39 trillion 2022 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday in Abuja.
To finance the 2022 Federal Budget, Buhari expects total revenue of N10.13 trillion, including N63.38 billion in grants and aid, as well as revenue generated by 63 government-owned enterprises (GOEs).
Described as an Economic Growth and Sustainability budget, it was based on $57 per barrel oil and an estimate of 1.88 million barrels per day of oil production.
The minister said the exchange rate of N410.15 per US dollar, as well as the projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 4.2% and the inflation rate of 13.2%, were also considered.
Ahmed said that the Federal Government had a share of N754.2 billion of the oil revenue generated in 2021, which amounted to 56.3% of total revenue generated.
According to her, non-oil taxes accounted for N1.15 trillion, representing 115,7% of the projected revenue for 2021.
In terms of expenditure, the minister said N8.14 trillion had been spent out of the prorata budget of N9.71 trillion, adding that the estimate included expenditure estimates for Government-owned Enterprises (GOEs) but excluded project-tied loans.
According to Ahmed, N2.87 trillion has been spent on debt servicing, N2.57 trillion on employee costs, which includes pensions, and N1.79 trillion on capital projects.
Speaking on the 2022 Appropriation Bill, Ahmed said the proposed N16.39 trillion expenditures were 12.2 per cent higher than the initially projected 2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).
10.132 trillion was projected to be generated as revenue, while 6.26 trillion which represented 3.39 per cent of GDP would be borrowed to finance the deficit.
For the deficit, N2.51 trillion would come from domestic sources, another N2.51 trillion from foreign borrowing, and N1.16 trillion from drawdowns from multilateral and bilateral loans.
In terms of revenue, she said N3.53 trillion would come from oil, N2.13 trillion from taxes, N1.816 trillion from independent sources, N1.728 trillion from retained GOEs, and N924.31 billion from other sources.
She said recurrent expenditures, which are non-debt spending, cost N6.83 trillion and aggregate capital expenditure at N5.35 trillion, with N3.61 trillion going to debt servicing, while N297 billion is for retiring maturing bonds of local contractors and suppliers.
Ahmed said that the defence and security sector, with 15% of the budget, would receive N2.41 trillion, while infrastructure gets 9.2% of the budget at N1.45 trillion and education gets 7.9% of the budget at N1.290 trillion.
Health would receive 5% of the budget at N820.2 billion, while social development and poverty reduction programmes would receive 5.3% at N863 billion.
Ahmed, however, told the press that the 2022 budget would further boost the economy.
“We are optimistic of attaining more inclusive GDP growth as we focus on achieving our objective of massive job creation and lifting millions of our citizens out of poverty.
“Early passage of the 2022 budget for implementation from January 1 will significantly contribute towards achieving government macro-fiscal and sectoral objectives.”
She said that though revenue currently remains the nation’s fiscal challenge, the government remained committed to the effective implementation of the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives (SRGI).
