The Budget Office of the Federation (BoF) has disclosed that the federal government N20.98 trillion in total revenues for 2024, indicating a 68.11 per cent increase compared to N12.48 trillion in 2023.
The revenue boost came amid N13.51 trillion fiscal deficit in year under review, according to the Fourth Quarter 2024 Budget Implementation Report by the Office.
The deficit exceeded the government’s target and pushed the deficit-to-GDP ratio above the legal threshold set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007, the report added.
However, the report noted that the revenue performance was lower in relation to the N4.89 trillion 2024 annual budget estimate.
But gross non-oil revenue increased to N16.09 trillion, an increase of N5.29 trillion compared to N10.81 trillion annual estimate.
The non-oil revenue receipt included revenues from Company Income Tax (CIT), Value Added Tax (VAT), Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and Customs.
On the other hand, gross oil revenue stood at N15.07 trillion, representing N4.93 trillion or 24.65 per cent decline compared to N19.99 trillion projected in the 2024 budget.
The oil revenue was higher than the N8.35 trillion realised in 2023 by N6.71 trillion or 80.83 per cent, according to the report.
The actual net oil revenue was N3.34 trillion, a decrease of N896.57 billion or 21.12 per cent below the estimated quarterly budget of N4.24 trillion.
The inflow was lower than N3.98 trillion in net oil revenue recorded in Q3 2024 by N639.03 billion, but higher than N2.41 trillion recorded in Q4 2023 by N1.57 trillion, the report added.
The BoF further stated that a breakdown of revenue inflows showed that royalties (oil and gas), concessional rentals, and miscellaneous income (such as pipeline fees) all exceeded their quarterly estimates.
Gas flared penalty and exchange gain which had zero projection, yielded N108.54 billion and N1.22 trillion, respectively, in 2024.
The report further revealed that the quarterly fiscal deficit was initially projected at N2.29 trillion, excluding Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs) and multilateral or bi-lateral project-tied loans amounting to N262.98 billion.
However, actual figures far exceeded the estimate as fiscal pressures mounted during the year.
According to the Budget Office, inflows and outflows of funds during Q4 resulted in a deficit of N7.17 trillion — N4.88 trillion or 212.68 per cent higher than the prorated budget projection for the period.
It said, “Overall, a total of N13.51 trillion deficit was recorded in 2024, representing a budget to GDP ratio of 3.62 per cent, which is above the target rate of 3.0 per cent as stipulated in the FRA 2007.”
The report said the deficit was financed through N1.98 trillion multilateral/bilateral project-tied loan, N6.06 trillion domestic borrowing, N3.37 trillion foreign borrowing and N3.19 trillion budget support.
James Emejo
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