Nigerian government spent 97% of its revenue on debt service obligations in 2020, according to the 2020 Budget Implementation Analysis released by BudgIT Nigeria, a civic tech organization with focus on raising the standards of transparency, citizen engagement and accountability most especially in public finance..
According to the report, FG spent N3.34 trillion on debt servicing in 2020, whereas it generated a revenue of N3.42 trillion. The Federal Government had budgeted N2.95 trillion for Debt servicing in 2020.
Total expenditure in 2020 stood at N10.01 trillion according to the report. This represents 93% performance when compared to the budgeted amount of N10.81 trillion.
“This means nearly all FG’s salaries, overhead & CAPEX [Capital Expenditure] were financed with loans & CBN support,” BudgIT said.
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- Details of States and FCT domestic and external debt stock
FG achieved a 63.71% revenue performance in 2020 as it had projected total revenue of N5.37 trillion according to the report.
Nigerian government generated oil revenue of N1.41 trillion, which surpassed the projected N1.01 trillion. However actual non-oil revenue of N1.26 trillion represents 77.2% of the projected N1.62 trillion.
Of the N10.01 trillion spent in 2020, N4.65tn was spent on non-debt recurrent expenditure, representing 94% of the budgeted N4.94 trillion.
The report said Capital Expenditure keeps getting the short end of the stick, as only N1.60 trillion was devoted to capital projects in 2020.” The Civic organization said that “This is not acceptable!.”
“Recall that FG had a CAPEX plan (exclusive of transfers) of N2.69tn, this means only 59.5% (slightly over half) of the 2020 projection was actualised.”
FG disbursed only N359bn of the N536bn budget for pension. “This means that many pensioners didn’t get their pensions during the heat of COVID-19,” BudgIT said.
The budget of N428.03 for Statutory Transfers in 2020 was disbursed. However, there is no breakdown or implementation report of how this money was spent/disbursed.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
