TheCable

The federal government says the county’s oil and gas sector did not meet the desired target for revenue in 2023, unlike the non-oil sector which outperformed.

Atiku Bagudu, minister of budget and national planning, disclosed this on Wednesday during the public presentation and breakdown of the approved 2024 budget.

Bagudu said the 2024 budget was prepared against the backdrop of a challenging global and domestic economic environment.

Speaking on revenue generated, Bagudu said oil and gas inflow was below projection. 

“The gross oil and gas revenue for FY 2023 was projected at N3.38 trillion. As of September 2023, N5.58 trillion was realised as against the prorated estimate of N7.04 trillion,” he said. 

“This represents about 79.3 percent performance. After accounting for deductions (Including 13 percent derivation).

“Net oil and gas revenue inflows to the federation account amounted to only N2.93 trillion. This is N530.29 billion or 20.7 percent less than the target.”

However, the minister said the net non-oil revenue outperformed the pro rata target by N1.62 trillion or 30.4 percent.

“Only customs performed below target by 27 percent,” Bagudu said. 

In the 2023 budget, the government had planned with the expectation that oil would sell above $75 per barrel and Nigeria would produce at least 1.69 million barrels per day.

But as of October 2023, the country’s oil production recorded 1.35 million barrels per day.

A report released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the non-oil sector contributed 95 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023.

Speaking further on the performance of the 2023 budget, Bagudu said the aggregate expenditure for 2023 (inclusive of the supplementary budget) was estimated at N24.82 trillion, with a pro-rata spending target of N18.62 trillion at the end of September.

According to the minister, the actual spending was N12.7 trillion and off this amount, N6.79 trillion was for debt service, and N3.78 trillion for personnel costs, including pensions.

He said only about N1.47 trillion, approximately 25 percent of the pro-rata budget, has been released for ministries departments and agencies’ (MDAs) capital expenditure as of September 2023.