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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Federal Government has blamed theft of crude oil and subsidy payment for Premium Motor Spirit ( PMS) for the poor performance of the 2022 budget.
Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, stated this, yesterday, when she appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, in the ongoing defence of the 2023 budget proposal by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA).
Nevertheless, Ahmed explained that revenue generation is the major fiscal constraint confronting the country. She added that “resource mobilization problem” has been further compounded by recent economic recessions.
However, the minister, who noted that the government was focusing on improving tax administration and collection efficiency, said efforts in that regard were “ bearing fruits with non-oil taxes mostly performing above target for the period..
“The aggregate expenditure for 2022 is estimated at N17.32 trillion, with a prorata spending target of N11.55 trillion at the end of August.
“The actual spending as of August 31 was N9.56 trillion. Of this amount, – N3.52 trillion was for debt service, and N2.89 trillion for Personnel costs, including Pensions. N1.78 billion was released for capital expenditure.
“The fiscal deficit for 2022 is estimated at N7.35 trillion. The N5.33 trillion deficit as at August, is N430.82 billion above the prorata level. The level of borrowing is N1.26 trillion ahead of July target.
“Full implementation of the 2022 budget is challenged particularly by oil revenues trailing at 27.1% performance as at August 2022, she said.
“Crude oil production challenges and PMS subsidy deductions by NNPC constitute significant threat to the achievement of our revenue growth targets, as seen in the 2022 performance up to August.”
