A member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Bamidele Amoo has disclosed that the Federal Government’s expenditure increased by 33.5 per cent in February.
This was disclosed in a statement by Amoo at the MPC meeting, held between March 25 and 26, 2024, stating the figure was more than what was spent in January but 13.8 per cent below the target, according to The Punch.
However, this increase occurred despite directives given by President Bola Tinubu to reduce the cost of governance.
Recall that in a decisive step to reduce excessive travel expenditure, the President announced on 19 January that he had reduced his entourage by 60 % for domestic and international travel.
All federal ministries, departments, and agencies, the President’s Office, the Vice President’s Offices as well as the spouses of the President and the Vice president shall be affected by these austerity measures.
The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale speaking to state House correspondents said, “The President has approved a new limit of 25 staff members to accompany him on domestic trips.
“The Office of the First Lady is now limited to 10 staff members to accompany her on official trips within the country.
“The Vice President will be limited to 15 members of staff on official trips within the country, while his wife will be limited to 10 members of staff on officials within the country.”
These measures findings shows did not cut down government spending.
These expenditures includes spending on a variety of categories, e.g. salaries for public servants, infrastructure development, healthcare, education, defence, welfare programmes, subsidies, and interest payments on the debt.
Amoo said, “Provisional FGN expenditure was 33.5 per cent higher than the level in the previous month and 13.8 per cent below the target.”
The MPC member noted that, although the performance of the sector was mixed, the fiscal deficit widened by 33.7 per cent due to increased government capital expenditure, while both oil and nonoil revenues increased.
He stated, “The fiscal sector performance was mixed in February 2024. Federal Government provisional federation revenue receipts improved in February 2024 by 22.9 per cent but stood at 38.8 per cent below the set target.
“Oil revenue increased by 50.3 per cent relative to its level in January 2024. Nonoil receipts in February 2024 exceeded both target and preceding levels by 41.3 per cent and 15.5 per cent respectively.
“Overall, the fiscal deficit in February 2024 expanded by 33.7 per cent and 86.2 per cent compared with the preceding month and target respectively. These operations recorded a fiscal deficit at 6.5 per cent of GDP driven by expansion in government capital spending.”
