Federal Government has exceeded its 2024 borrowing target by N4.79 trillion, raising a total of N12.62 trillion instead of the planned N7.83 trillion.
This is according to the latest Fourth Quarter and Consolidated Budget Implementation Report which stated that this surge in borrowing was driven by a significant revenue shortfall, which saw total revenue fall to N20.98 trillion from an estimate of N25.88 trillion, resulting in a fiscal deficit of N13.51 trillion well above the approved N9.18 trillion.
While domestic borrowing remained on target at N6.06 trillion, foreign loans increased sharply from N1.77 trillion to N3.37 trillion, and the government received N3.19 trillion in budget support without prior budget provision. The report also noted that the wider fiscal gap was primarily due to weaker revenue, not increased spending, and that about 36% of the 2024 budget was financed through new borrowings.
Leave a Reply