The Federal Government has disbursed only 24.5 percent of the total amount allocated for the 2024 fiscal year in the first half of the year, marking its lowest budget performance since 2020, an FIJ comparison has revealed.
Halfway through 2020, in June, Nigeria had implemented about 41 per cent of its total budgetary allocation. This figure declined to approximately 32 per cent halfway through 2021. It dropped further in 2022 to a record low of 26.27 per cent. The country improved slightly in 2023 with a 27 per cent half-year budget implementation rate.
In contrast, as of June 2024, the Federal Government had paid only 24.5 percent of budgetary allocations to ministries, departments, and agencies, according to the Quarterly Budget Implementation Report on the Open Treasury Portal.
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Core federal ministries such as Power, Works and Housing, Transportation, and Water Resources have performed poorly. These ministries have received less than four per cent of their 2024 fiscal year allocations.
Furthermore, interesting agencies like the National Youth Service Corps and the National Emergency Management Agency have not received any payments for the 2024 fiscal year.
Core Federal MinistryBudget AmountPayment Made till JuneBudget BalancePercentageEducation2 033 107 763 458.65600 245 774 866.281 432 861 988 592.3729.52Health2 233 875 041 750.28331 294 147 173.901 902 580 894 576.3814.83Power Works and Housing2 255 073 408 142.1146 944 808 269.162 208 128 599 872.952.08Finance13 428 527 465 950.894 960 515 815 468.768 468 011 650 482.1336.94Defense2 413 327 358 325.021 032 890 287 590.741 380 437 070 734.2842.80Transportation607 653 066 350.3321 060 089 461.12586 592 976 889.213.47Water Resources1 176 278 052 679.2528 452 451 741.231 147 825 600 938.022.42Agriculture and Rural Development1 564 732 672 722.65252 598 020 912.011 312 134 651 810.6416.14Budget Performance in Core Ministries in H1, 2024. Source: Open Treasury Portal
Conspicuously high performers, however, include the National Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission, which have received 50 per cent of their budgetary allocations in the 2024 fiscal year.
Prospects for the rest of the year do not suggest a significant improvement in budget performance. In June, the Federal Government disclosed that oil revenue was about 27 per cent below the projections in the 2024 budget, despite favorable crude oil prices.
Per the National Upstream Product Regulatory Commission reports, the highest daily oil production achieved since January is 1.64 million barrels per day, compared to the 1.78 million barrels per day needed to meet revenue projections.
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FIJ also reported that about N628 billion had been misallocated by the Federal Government in the 2024 budget, amid other fiscal inconsistencies and irresponsibility by the National Assembly and the Federal Government.
Most importantly, Nigeria recently recorded a headline inflation rate of 34.19 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This does not bode well for the Federal Government’s purchasing capabilities.
On the upside, Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, announced in June that the Federal Government surpassed its 2024 half-year non-oil revenue target by 30 percent.
In response to the budget performance decline in July, the Senate tasked Edun with engaging MDAs in the government to improve budget financing and implementation in the current fiscal year.
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