The Nigerian Government has been unable to meet its revenue projection by N15 trillion in the past six year, analysis annual budget of the country has shown.
The data showed that between 2015 and 2020, the total revenue projection for the six-year period was N31.9trillion, while about N16.9 trillion was generated, resulting in a shortfall of N15 trillion.
Also, checks showed that the total revenue allocated for capital projects in the period under review was N11.9 trillion, while the actual amount released to the Ministries Departments and Agencies was estimated at N8.2 trillion.
The West African country has been dependent on crude oil export for its revenue.
However, the nation has been facing bottlenecks with its sale of crude oil over the years due to declining demand and discovery of Shale oil by the United States, which is its largest export market.
For instance, Nigeria’s revenue from the export of crude oil in 2020 crashed by 35.7 per cent amid low demand for the commodity and OPEC production cuts last year.
BizWatch Nigeria’s analyses of Nigeria’s Trade Export data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Nigeria earned N9.44 trillion from crude oil export as against N14.69 trillion in 2019.
The crash in global oil prices in March last year coupled with dwindling demand for Nigeria’s crude affected Nigeria’s economy whose foreign exchange income comes mostly from crude export.
READ ALSO: Buhari Okays N1 billion Take-off Funding For Nigeria’s First Aviation University
This led to scarcity of forex needed for legitimate import of raw materials by manufacturers and repatriation of investors’ earnings.
Nigeria exported crude oil worth N2.94 trillion in the first quarter of 2020; N1.55 trillion in the second quarter of last year; N2.42billion in the third quarter of 2020 and N2.52 trillion in the fourth quarter of last year.
Analyses on the 2019 trade crude oil data from NBS showed that Nigeria’s quarterly earnings from crude oil export was higher than quarterly earnings from the commodity in 2019.
In the first quarter of 2019, the nation earned N3.38 trillion from the export of crude oil; N3.94 trillion in the second quarter; N3,75 trillion in the third quarter and N3.63 trillion in the fourth quarter of the year.
