Customs’ revenue rises in 8 months
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A total N1,755,386,486,390.02 was collected as revenue by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in the first eight months of the year spanning January and August (8M 2022).
The NCS collected N241,903,781,854.46 in August alone, its highest ever monthly revenue, as it fires on all cylinders to help drive the vision of the federal government to diversify and expand its tax base in the face of dwindling oil revenue.
The revenue in 8M 2022 is N363,436,321,614.95 higher than N1,391,950,164,775.97 the NCS collected in 8M 2021.
Abuja has increased its focus on non-oil revenue sources, prompting higher expectations from revenue collection agencies such as the NCS, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), among others.
Nigeria plans to borrow N11 trillion to fund the 2023 budget in addition to selling some national assets.
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Budget deficit, fuel subsidy
Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed, who disclosed this, said the budget deficit is expected to exceed N12.42 trillion is retained in the entire the 2023 fiscal cycle, according to reporting by The Nation.
She made the point when she appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance to defend the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
She explained to the lawmakers two scenarios of the budget deficit.
In one, Ahmed said, the deficit is projected to be N12.41 trillion, up from N7.35 trillion budgeted in 2022, representing 196 per cent of total revenue or 5.50 per cent of estimated Gross Domestic Produce (GDP).
In this option, she added, the government would spend N6.72 trillion on subsidy.
Exports through Apapa Port fetch N522.4b revenue
Exports through Apapa Port rose 8,525 per cent in half year ended June 2022 (H1 2022) versus H1 2021, according to NCS Area Controller, Apapa Area 1 Command, Malanta Yusuf.
Yusuf said the Free-On-Board (FOB) value of exports for H1 2022 was $138 million (N6.21 billion) compared with $1.6 million (N720 million) in H1 2021.
That yielded N522.4 billion revenue in H1 2022, a 42.5 per cent rise on N366.5 billion in H1 2021.
Apapa is the star command of the NCS that collects the greatest revenue for the treasury year in year out.
“In line with federal government’s efforts to diversify the economy through non-oil export, the command recorded a boom in the exportation of non-oil commodities with about 2.5 million metric tonnes, above the five hundred and forty thousand (540) metric tonnes in the year 2021,” Yusuf explained.
“The Free on Board (FOB) value for the exported items also rose from $1.6 million in the year 2021 to $138 million in 2022. Items exported include steel bars, agricultural and mineral products amongst others.
“The Federal Government policy and export incentive schemes have played vital roles in boosting export trade in Nigeria.”