CBN: FG Budget Deficit Hits N13trn In 2024, Higher This Year

The Federal Government’s Budget Deficit for the year ended December 2024 hit a whopping N12.95 trillion, according to checks from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

The apex  bank made this known in its Quarterly Economic Reports for last year, which showed that the deficit trumped the comparative year 2023 with 0.8 percent.

The CBN said in the report that the yearly expenditure for the year under review also rose by over two percent compared to the year before, with the recurrent expenditure gulping the huge chunk of the entire budget outlay while revenue rose by oer 10 percent year on year, YoY.

“At N5.6 trillion, provisional aggregate expenditure was 2.22 per cent above the level in the preceding quarter, but was 22.09 per cent short of the quarterly target of N7.19 trillion. “The rise in expenditure relative to the preceding quarter was associated with the increase in interest payments and personnel costs, which rose by 6.98 and 23.31 per cent, respectively,” the apex bank said.

“Further analysis of total expenditure showed that recurrent (75.13 percent) accounted for the largest share outlay, with the remainder split between capital (17.1 percent) and transfer payments (7.77 percent).

“FGN retained revenue rose in the review period, due to higher receipts from the federation account, non-oil excess, and FGN independent revenue. At N2.52 trillion, provisional FGN retained revenue was 10.40 per cent above the level in Q3’24, but was 48.57 per cent below the benchmark.

“The fiscal operations of the FGN resulted in a narrower deficit in Q4’24. Provisional data showed that primary deficit narrowed by 22.62 per cent, relative to the level in the preceding quarter.

“The overall deficit also reduced by 3.61 per cent to N3.08 trillion during the review quarter, reflecting the improved balance that resulted from a more than proportionate increase in revenue over expenditure.”

Meanwhile, the federal government has projected a N13.1 trillion Budget Deficit in the 2025 Budget. This is contained in the Budget signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in February, even though financial experts insist that it could be more.