Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala

Obinna Chima
The gross revenue realised by the federal government in May fell by 12.3 per cent to N855.14 billion, from N969.32 billion generated in April, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said.

The apex bank disclosed this in its economic report for May, posted on its website Tuesday.
It however, said the amount exceeded government’s monthly budget estimate by 5.9 per cent.
It attributed the decline to the fall in both oil and non-oil revenue during the review month.

At N671.12 billion, gross oil receipts, which constituted 78.5 per cent of the total revenue, according to the report, was lower than the receipts in the preceding month by 8.2 per cent, but exceeded the monthly budget estimate by 21.4 per cent.
“The decline in oil receipts, relative to the level in the preceding month, was attributed largely to the decline in sales of domestic crude oil and gas during the month,” it said.

According to the report, gross non-oil receipts, at N184.02 billion or 21.5 per cent of the total, was 24.5 and 27.7 per cent lower than the receipts in the preceding month and the monthly budget estimates, respectively. The decline relative to the receipts in the preceding month’s level was said to have largely reflected the fall in independent revenue of the federal government.

“On a cumulative basis, gross federally collected revenue for the period January to May 2012 was estimated at N4.810 trillion, reflecting an increase of 19.1 and 23.0 per cent over the cumulative budget estimate and the receipts in the corresponding period of 2011, respectively.
“Of this amount, gross oil receipts represented 78.5 per cent, while gross non-oil receipts accounted for the balance of 21.5 per cent,” it said further.

It also revealed that at N13.252 trillion, aggregate banking system credit (net) to the domestic economy at end-May 2012 fell by 1.2 per cent, on month-on-month basis, compared with the decline of 2 per cent at the end of the preceding month.

The development was also said to have reflected, largely, the 55.5 per cent decline in claims (net) on the federal government.
The report explained: “Over the level at end-December 2011, aggregate banking system credit (net) to the domestic economy fell by 3.2 per cent, reflecting largely the 145.7 per cent fall in claims (net) on the federal government.

“Banking systems’ claims (net) on the federal government, on month-on-month basis, fell by 55.5 per cent to negative N1.221 trillion, compared with the decline of 78.1 per cent at the end of the preceding month.”