A Civic organisation, BudgIT has expressed concerns over the poor fiscal performance of the federal government’s 2022 budget and the growing subsidy payments, noting that the fortunes of Nigeria have worsened in the last eight months.
In a statement by BudgIT’s assistant head, media and communications, Iyanu Fatoba, the most pressing concern is the debt service-to-revenue ratio, which has reached alarming levels within the first four months of 2022.
It added that the country’s current debt service, which stood at N1.94 trillion from January – April 2022, is over 100 percent of the nation’s revenue which was N1.64 trillion naira, within the same period.
“This is in spite of warnings given by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Nigeria would be spending over 100 percent of its revenue on debt service in 2026. Unfortunately, those predictions are Nigeria’s current realities,” the statement reads.
“In particular, the debt service spending is only N93.6 billion less than the combined total personnel and capital expenditure for the period under review. Also alarming are the expenditure targets for the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), which have only been 15 percent (of the total N5.10 billion naira) for the period under review.
“There is no gainsaying that the fortunes of the most populous black nation on earth, Nigeria, have worsened in the last 8 months after the 2022 budget was passed.”
Gabriel Okeowo, BudgIT’s country director, said despite being confronted with a myriad of challenges ranging from the ASUU strike which has crippled tertiary education, Nigerians are waiting with bated breath for the national budget to begin to bring about relief and the positive change it was claimed to have harboured.
