According to a report, the Federal Government’s fiscal budget deficit was N7.05 trillion by the end of 2022.
The information comes from the Budget office’s newly issued 2022 budget implementation report.
The deficit was projected to be N5.2 trillion, while the government expected to bring in N9 trillion.
The news comes as the country faces a financial crisis.
Revenue for the federal government came in at N5.8 trillion, down from N6.7 trillion in the same period in 2021, according to the budget office’s report.
It incurred N5 trillion in one-time, non-debt expenses in 2022, with N3.49 trillion going toward salaries and benefits.
Compared to N4.2 trillion in 2021, or 62.8 percent of expected revenue, the government spent an enormous N5.65 trillion on debt service this year.
Meanwhile, debt service was N1.8 trillion, with N2.5 trillion spent on domestic debt and N1.1 trillion spent on international debt.
Capital spending for the federal government totaled N1.89 trillion, down from N1.9 trillion in 2021 and almost 50% below the objective of N3.6 trillion.
The budget office also revealed that the 2022 deficits of N7,523.71 billion reflect a budget-deficit to GDP ratio of 3.77 per cent, which is higher than the 3.0 per cent target rate outlined in the FRA 2007.
However, N510.21 billion in foreign borrowing and N3,654.12 billion in domestic borrowing were used to help fund the budget deficit.