The federal revenue collected in Nigeria for the third quarter of 2018 stands at N2.524 trillion, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) third quarter economic report, has shown.
The report was posted on its website just as some chief executives predicted that notwithstanding the sluggish economic growth as well as pressure on the country’s external reserves, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBN, which commences its 264th meeting tomorrow would leave its key monetary policy tools unchanged as the 2019 elections draw nearer.
According to the latest CBN report, the federal revenue collected in the third quarter of 2018, was lower than the proportionate quarterly budget estimate of N3.321 trillion by 24 per cent.
It, however, rose above the receipts in the preceding quarter by 8.9 per cent.
“The decline in federally-collected revenue (gross) relative to the proportionate quarterly budget estimate was attributed to the shortfall in both oil and non-oil revenue components in the review period,” the report explained.
The report showed that gross oil receipt, at N1.394 trillion or 55.2 per cent of the total revenue, was below the proportionate quarterly budget estimate by 27.4 per cent.
It also fell marginally below the receipts in the second quarter of 2018 by 0.3 per cent.
Despite the increase in crude oil price, oil revenue declined relative to the proportionate budget estimate, owing to shortfalls in crude oil production and exports, arising from leakages and shut-ins/shut-downs at some NNPC terminals.
On the other hand, non-oil revenue, at N1.130 trillion or 44.8 per cent of total, was below the proportionate quarterly budget estimate of N1.400 trillion by 19.3 per cent. It was, however, above the level in the preceding quarter by 22.8 per cent.
The lower non-oil revenue relative to the proportionate quarterly budget estimate was due to the shortfalls in receipt from federal government independent revenue and VAT in the review period.
The report stated that despite the decline in domestic oil production, there was improvement in foreign exchange revenue from oil export in the third quarter of 2018, on account of the favourable international price of crude oil.
The development was, however, moderated by the significant decline in inflow from non-oil exports.
Consequently, aggregate foreign exchange inflow through the CBN amounted to $12.95 billion, indicating a 6.3 per cent decline below the level at end-June 2018.
It, however, showed an increase of 8.1 per cent, over the level in the corresponding period of 2017.
The decline, relative to the preceding quarter, reflected, mainly, the fall in inflow from non-oil sources.
Aggregate outflow through the CBN amounted to $16.93 billion in the third quarter of 2018. This represented 27.4 per cent and 81.3 per cent increase, above $13.29 billion and $9.34 billion in the preceding quarter and the corresponding period of 2017, respectively. The increase in outflow relative to the preceding quarter was attributed to 32.2 per cent and 28.0 per cent increase in public sector payments and interventions in the foreign exchange market.
Overall, a net outflow of $3.98 billion was recorded through the bank, compared with $0.53 billion and $2.64 billion in the second quarter of 2018 and the corresponding period of 2017, respectively.