The Federal Government says it recorded a significant revenue performance of N12.6 trillion as of August this year.
Tanimu Yakubu, the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, disclosed this at a meeting with foreign investors on the sidelines of the on-going Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington DC, last night.
Yakubu said the pro-rata budget projection for the month of August was N13.1 trillion, while actual performance was N12.6 trillion, resulting in a N500 billion deficit, Vanguard reported.
“Revenue Budget by August was 13.1 trillion and actual performance was N12.6 trn, leaving us with a deficit 500b. Aggregate revenue target was missed by 3.6 percent, so we are doing well," he said.
Speaking further about fiscal performance, Mr. Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, noted that things were much better than they were when the present administration met them.
"Fiscal performance, where we met things was huge debt servicing, costing nearly 100 percent of revenues. We have cut it down by half of this year to about 60 percent or so which is still eye-wateringly high but we are coping with it," he said.
“Budget deficit is cut down from 6.5 percent of GDP to about 4.4 percent and we are still hopeful of achieving our target of 4 percent of GDP for 2024.
Edun said that the present administration was determined to increase the revenue side of the budget with a target of reaching 23 percent of GDP.
His team, he said, would pursue the re-set of the macro economy with a view to achieving a level of performance that could bring about sustained development and rapid growth.
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