Panic As Buhari Govt Raises Expenditure By 183% In Seven Years

The expenditure of the Federal Government has been raised by 183 percent in seven years, Naija News has learned.

It was gathered that the Muhammadu Buhari government increased projected expenditure in its annual budget by about 185 per cent between 2016 and 2022.

A report on The PUNCH on Sunday disclosed some of the factors responsible for the rise in government spending as rising governance costs, economic recessions, COVID-19 outbreak, insecurity and other factors.

The newspaper reports according to data from the Budget Office, that the Federal Government budgeted to spend ₦6.06tn for the 2016 fiscal year.

However, in the recently passed 2022 budget, the projected aggregate expenditure was pegged at ₦17.12tn, almost thrice the amount budgeted in 2016.

This showed that government expenditure recorded significant increases almost every year during the period under the review. It was also observed that recurrent expenditure got the largest budget allocations during the period.

This indicates that government spending rose by ₦11.1tn or 183 per cent during the period under review.

In 2016, the Federal Government passed a budget of ₦6.06tn consisting of recurrent expenditure of ₦2.65tn, capital expenditure of ₦1.59tn, and debt servicing of ₦1.48tn.

Projected revenue for the 2016 fiscal year stood at ₦5.72tn, creating a fiscal deficit of ₦340bn.

In 2017, total expenditure rose to ₦7.44tn as against a revenue projection of ₦5.08tn resulting in a deficit of ₦2.36tn.

Recurrent expenditure in the 2017 budget was ₦2.99tn; capital expenditure was ₦2.18tn while money budgeted for debt servicing was ₦1.66tn.

Total expenditure ballooned to ₦9.12tn in the 2018 budget, comprising recurrent expenditure of ₦3.51tn, capital expenditure of ₦2.87tn, and debt servicing of ₦2.01tn.

With a revenue projection of ₦7.16tn, fiscal deficit in 2018 stood at ₦1.96tn.

The following year, the government departed from the trend by reducing total expenditure to ₦8.91tn. This sum was an aggregate of recurrent expenditure of ₦4.05tn, capital expenditure of ₦2.09tn and ₦2.25tn for debt servicing.

With a revenue projection of ₦6.99tn, there was a fiscal deficit of ₦1.92tn.

However, in 2020, the government reverted to reviewing its expenditure upward. With recurrent expenditure of ₦4.84tn, capital expenditure of ₦2.47tn, and ₦2.7tn budgeted for debt servicing, total expenditure rose to ₦10.59tn in 2020.

In 2021, government spending continued to soar as ₦13.59tn was budgeted as total expenditure. Out of this sum, ₦5.64tn was set aside for recurrent expenditure, capital expenditure stood at ₦4.13tn; while money budgeted for debt servicing was ₦3.32tn.

With revenue projection of ₦7.91tn, there was a fiscal deficit of ₦5.68tn.

In the 2022 budget, the government’s ₦17.12tn projected expenditure consists of ₦6.9tn recurrent expenditure, ₦5.9tn capital expenditure and ₦3.9tn earmarked for debt servicing.

With a revenue target of ₦10.13tn, the government projects a budget deficit of ₦6.99tn in 2022, which it said would be financed by new foreign loans.

The government has on several occasions justified its increasing expenditure by stating that the country isn’t spending as much as other African countries.