The CBN said in its latest economic report that “Federally-collected revenue, at N2.41tn, in the fourth quarter of 2018, was 27.4 percent and 4.8 percent lower than the estimate and the receipts in the preceding quarter, respectively.”
According to the report, the development relative to budget estimate was due to the shortfall in receipts from both oil and non-oil revenue in the reviewed quarter.
“Federal Government estimated retained revenue and total expenditures were N916.44bn and N1.826tn respectively, resulting in an estimated deficit of N910.41bn in the fourth quarter of 2018,” the report by Nigeria’s Punch newspaper on Thursday quoted the CBN as saying in the report.
The report noted that the cessation of rainfall during the period led to widespread dryness across the country and that agricultural activities in the fourth quarter were dominated by harvesting of tubers, grains and vegetables.
“In the livestock sub-sector, farmers continued with the breeding of poultry birds and fattening of cattle in anticipation of the end of year sales,” the CBN said.
It added that the end-period headline inflation on year-on-year and 12-month moving average bases for the review period were 11.44 percent and 12.10 percent, respectively.