The Federal Government recorded a fiscal deficit of N 2 .14tn in its operations in the 2017 fiscal period, figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria have revealed.
The figures are contained in the fourth quarter Economic Report of the apex bank , which was obtained by our correspondent in Abuja .
A fiscal deficit occurs when a government ’s total expenditure exceeds the revenue that it generates, excluding borrowings .
An analysis of the report showed that the fiscal deficit for the 2017 financial year was lower than the N 2 .19tn recorded in 2016.
The report put the total retained revenue of the Federal Government during the period at N 2. 76tn, while the expenditure was put at N 4. 9 tn, resulting in overall operational deficit of N 2 .14tn .
Investigations showed that the deficit was financed through domestic and foreign borrowings , including issuance of government securities .
Further analysis of the report showed that while the Federal Government earned N554 .63bn in the first quarter of 2017, it incurred an expenditure of N 1. 34tn, resulting in a first quarter deficit of N 782 .96bn after the addition of primary deficit of N 158 .8 bn .
For the second quarter, the sum of N 688 .69bn was earned by the Federal Government , with an expenditure of N 1. 17tn, resulting in a deficit of N 489 .33bn after adding the primary deficit of N185 . 74bn.
The report put the third quarter revenue of government at N 788 .56bn , adding that when matched with the N 1 .4 tn expenditure for the period , it resulted into a deficit of N618 .66bn .
For the fourth quarter, the government earned N731 . 61bn as revenue . However, with an expenditure of N 979 .05bn and a primary surplus of N197 bn , the overall deficit for the quarter was put at N 247 .44bn .