Our chart today shows the breakdown of the FGN’s monthly expenditure through to January. We have included transfers in recurrent spending although they have a capital component. By this definition, the capital share of the total over the 12 months amounts to 11%, and so well short of the 30% target in FGN plans and speeches. Again by this definition and from this data source (the CBN), the 12-month total for capital outlays of N0.61trn falls short of the official figure of N1.2trn for the full 2016 budget year, which admittedly ran through to 06 May.
The newly approved 2017 budget meets the 30% target on paper: capital and total FGN expenditure are projected at N2.24trn and N7.44trn respectively.
The challenge, once the president has signed off the budget, becomes to make the capital releases as soon as possible, while bettering the record of past administrations for delivering value for monies spent.
A breakdown of the ministry’s total of N1.2trn for 2016 shows that the power, works and housing ministry was the largest beneficiary, receiving N0.31trn. We can see this priority again in the approved 2017 budget, in which the same ministry is set to receive N0.55trn.
Sources: CBN; FBNQuest Research
From the CBN’s Economic Report for January, we see that the non-debt and debt elements of recurrent expenditure in the month totaled N175bn and N157bn respectively. Once we make allowances for overheads and other recurrent items, it appears that the FGN was on track in its determination to hold personnel costs at around N1.8trn annually.
