Oil, non oil sectors’ fragility causes N1trn revenue shortfall in five months

According to the government, as of May 30, the Federal Government’s actual revenue was N1.62tn (62 percent of the N2.62tn pro-rata revised budget).

“The shortfall of 38 percent is attributable to the underperformance of both oil and non-oil revenue sources,” the document stated.

The disclosure was made in a budget call circular issued by Budget office to ministries, departments, and agencies containing the guidelines and instructions that must be followed by them for the preparation of the 2021 budget proposal.

The government stated that the document sets out the requirements and instructions that must be satisfied and followed in the preparation of the 2021 Federal Government of Nigeria budget proposal.

The document stated that all ministers/chief executives and accounting officers and other officers responsible for budget preparation were advised to read the budget call circular carefully.

The circular also touched on some aspects of the 2020 budget performance.

The circular further noted that the preparation of the 2021 budget estimates for MDAs should take into consideration the 2023 medium-term policies/strategies contained in the 2021 Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which is the government’s pre-budget statement.

It stated that the MTEF/FSP outlined the development priorities of the government for the period covered.

“Further to this, the Federal Government’s annual budget shall be prepared using the Zero-Based Budgeting approach and in line with the government’s policy thrust, as articulated in the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan, as well as other relevant circulars,” it said.

The circular said in accordance with the 2021-2023 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, the aggregate government revenue available for budget for the fiscal year 2021 was projected at N7.49tn.

It said the aggregate expenditure level was projected to be N12.66tn.