The Federal Government’s fiscal deficit rose month-on-month by 0.1 per cent to N824.79bn in April from N823.91bn in March, the Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed in its April 2024 Monthly Economic Report.
A fiscal deficit is a shortfall in a government’s revenue compared with its expenditure. The CBN report released on Thursday showed that the deficit was 7.92 per cent higher than the budgeted N764.19bn for the period.
The bank also said consumer credit outstanding declined significantly by 53.83 per cent to N3.8tn at the end of April 2024 from the level in the preceding month.
According to CBN, the expansion in deficit was due to a 0.55 per cent MoM decline in retained revenue to N419.91bn in April from N422.23bn in March.
It said the decline in revenue was a result of lower receipts from exchange gains. The report read, “The fiscal operations of the Federal Government of Nigeria, in April resulted in an expansion in the fiscal deficit.
“Provisional data showed that primary and overall deficits rose to N260.98bn and N824.79bn, respectively, from N249.43bn and N823.91bn in the preceding month.”
