The Federal Government recorded a deficit of N193.22 billion in its fiscal operations in April, according to the economic report for that month released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The report said that federally- collected revenue in April 2016 was N391.3 billion, which was 7.1 per cent less than the receipt in the preceding month, adding that retained revenue was N173.77 billion, while total provisional expenditure was N366.99billion.

Significantly, the report stated: “At N391.33 billion, estimated federally-collected revenue (gross) in April 2016, fell short of the provisional 2015 monthly budget estimate of N814.87 billion by 52.0 per cent. It was also lower than the receipt of the preceding month by 7.1 per cent.

The development relative to the provisional monthly budget estimate was attributed to the decline in oil revenue.”

Similarly, the study stated that with N186.65 billion or 47.7 per cent of the total revenue; gross oil receipts fell short of the preceding month’s level of N227.69billion by 18.0per cent.

The report attributed the decline in oil revenue to the fall in receipts from crude oil/gas exports owing to shut-downs and shut-ins in production arising from repair works at some Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) terminals and pipeline vandalism as well as the persistent low crude oil prices.

In the same vein, the report stated that non-oil revenue stood at N204.68 billion or 52.3 per cent of the total revenue in April, falling short of the provisional monthly budget estimate by 43.5 per cent.

It, however, noted that the figure was higher than the level in the preceding month by 5.8 per cent.

“The relatively improved performance in April 2016 compared with the preceding month’s level was attributed to the increase in receipts from the independent revenue of the Federal Government,” the report stated.

It would be recalled that the CBN had reported that the Federal Government recorded a deficit of N725.18 billion in its fiscal operations in the first quarter of 2016.

Source...http://independentnig.com/2016/07/25/fg-records-n193-22bn-deficit-in-april-cbn/#

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