Nigerian Govt Spends N97 out of Every N100 Revenue To Repay Debts to World Bank, China Others

Nigerian Govt Spends N97 out of Every N100 Revenue To Repay Debts to World Bank, China Others

  • New data has revealed the significant burden on the federal government to improve the lives of Nigerians
  • Most of the revenue earned by the government is being used to repay foreign and domestic debts
  • Nigerian debt to countries, World Bank, the African Development Bank, among several others, currently stands at over N87 trillion

The national budget office has revealed that Nigeria's fiscal deficit at the end of 2022 stood at N7.5 trillion in 2022.

This was disclosed in its 2022 budget implementation report released by the Budget Office and obtained by Legit.ng.

Nigeria debt service and revenues
Nigeria huge fiscal deficit leaves more questions than answers for President Tinubu. Photo credit: Presidency
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FG's revenue

According to the Budget Office federal government received a total revenue of N5.8 trillion in 2022, lower than the N9 trillion budgeted.

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Also, the amount is a decline from N6.7 trillion received in the same period in 2021.

Debt service

The budget office also disclosed that the federal government spent a whopping N5.65 trillion on debt service in 2022.

This represents a staggering 97.4% of the total revenue earned throughout the year.

This indicates that the country allocated N97 out of every N100 of its revenue to service its debts owed to China, the World Bank, investors, and other institutions and governments in 2022.

A breakdown of the debt service revealed that N1.8 trillion went into the CBN's 'ways and means', while N2.5 trillion and N1.1 trillion were allocated to domestic and foreign debt service, BusinessDay reports.

Fiscal deficit breakdown

The budget office also confirmed that the N7.52 trillion deficits recorded in 2022 represent a budget deficit to GDP ratio of 3.77%.

This is above the target rate of 3.0% as stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.

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The report also showed that the federal government was forced to borrow N510.21 billion from foreign institutions countries and N3.65 trillion in domestic borrowing to cover the deficit.

The high deficit shows that the government's spending far outpaces its revenue and relies more on debt to attend to its budgeted items.

Nigeria Still Repaying World Bank Loan Borrowed Under IBB, 107 Others as Debt Stock Hits N87trn

Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigerian government is repaying about $14.12 billion in World Bank loans.

The amount is the funds disbursed on about 108 approved loans, data from the website of the World Bank shows.

The oldest loan being serviced was approved almost 40 years ago under General Ibrahim Babangida.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Dave Ibemere avatar

Dave Ibemere (Senior Business Editor) Dave Ibemere is a senior business editor at Legit.ng. He is a financial journalist with over a decade of experience in print and online media. He also holds a Master's degree from the University of Lagos. He is a member of the African Academy for Open-Source Investigation (AAOSI), the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and other media think tank groups. He previously worked with The Guardian, BusinessDay, and headed the business desk at Ripples Nigeria. Email: dave.ibemere@corp.legit.ng.