Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates

Recent media highlights suggests that the Federal Government made a non-oil-based revenue of N1.27 trillion from operating surpluses between 2007 and 2016¹. The period which covers the years of operation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, shows a list of agencies and government organizations that paid the operating surpluses (revenues above approved budgetary expenditure at the end of each year) to the federal government.  Notably, the annual remittances shows year-on-year increases. This is likely attributable to the improved monitoring and intervention activities of the Fiscal Responsibility Committee over the years. There is greater scope for operating surpluses from public corporations with intensified efforts at monitoring the implementation of the template for calculating operating surplus liabilities across scheduled corporations.

Nigeria’s debt profile reached unprecedented high levels at the end of the year 2017. Figures obtained from the debt management office reveals that debt stock increased Year-on-Year by a significant 42.6 percent and Quarter-over-Quarter by 6.6 percent to N21.73 trillion as at December 2017¹. Domestic and foreign components of the debt profile grew to N3.35 trillion and N18.38 trillion respectively. The increased debt profile may have been triggered by domestic and foreign borrowings to fund Nigeria’s budget deficit, and excessive debt servicing costs – Nigeria serviced domestic debts to the tune of N1.48 trillion in 2017², about 29.13 percent of its total budget revenue. Implicatively, Nigeria’s debt to GDP ratio continues to increase, from 18.6 percent in 2016 to 21 percent

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, states generated about N931.2 billion altogether in 2017 fiscal year¹, representing 12 percent above the N831.2 billion generated in 2016. Further breakdown shows that 31 states recorded increases, while only about 5 states recorded slight declines in revenue generated internally; Lagos state generated 36 percent of total internally generated revenue (IGR). Notably, with a net FAAC allocation of N1.7 trillion, total revenue available to states stood at approximately N2.7 trillion in 2017. However, the states are still burdened with debts, given the N3.2 trillion and $4.1 billion owed as domestic and foreign debts respectively as at the end of December 2017. Going forward, improvements in tax collection and administrative capacities of revenue-generating agencies of other states, beyond Lagos, can further improve overall IGR.

The World Economic Outlook report, recently released by the World Bank, reduced its growth projection for Nigeria to 2.1 percent in 2018¹, from 2.5 percent². The new growth projection is considerably lower than the 3.5 percent 2018 growth rate projected by the federal government of Nigeria. However, at 2.1 percent, the growth is a significant improvement from actual 2017 growth rate of 0.83 percent; and this outlook has been hinged on improving oil prices, revenue and production, and foreign exchange measures that contribute to better foreign exchange availability.

Consumer Price Index, the measure for inflation rate, declined (Year-on-Year) for the fourteenth consecutive month in March 2018. Headline inflation dropped to 13.34 percent¹ – representing a marginal 0.99 percentage-points decrease, and lowest inflation rate in two years. The sub-indices moved in tandem with headline inflation as food inflation fell from 17.59 percent to 16.08 percent, while core inflation moderated to 11.20 percent, down slightly from 11.70 percent. The year-on-year decline is attributable to base effects of higher prices in corresponding month of 2017. Additionally, stable exchange rate moderated the impact of imported consumer goods prices². Going forward, to stimulate further decline in both food and core inflation rates, it is necessary to promote investment in the agriculture sector as well as  to foster policies that promote forex reserve growth and exchange rate stability.