In the first quarter (Q1) of 2020 (January to April) government has spent Le147 billion more than it has collected from domestic revenue. According to Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) government has spent Le 1.87 trillion on operating expenses against Le 1.72 trillion collected from domestic revenue for the period January to April 2020. This means that government expenditure has superseded domestic revenue by Le 147.81 billion as stated in the recently launched revenue analysis showing monthly real-time updates by BAN.
According to government reporting format, operating expenses refers to Wages, Salaries and Employee Benefits, Non-Salary, Non-Interest Recurrent Expenditure, o/w: National Revenue Authority, Grants to Educational Institutions, Transfers to Local Councils, Transfer to Road Fund, Treasury Single Account Expenditure and Domestic Development Expenditure.
The data used for this tracking is the published monthly statement of the Consolidated Fund, which includes actual revenues and expenditures done by the Accountant General’s department.
As compared to 2019, government has spent Le 1.67 trillion on operating expenses against Le 1.78 trillion from domestic revenue collected for the period January to April 2020. “It was only in April that government spent less than what was collected but in the other months they spent more than what was collected. BAN analysis revealed that apart from domestic revenue collection, donors also provided direct and off-budget support to the government. Direct budget support are funds channelled into government budgets through the normal budgeting and financial management process.
It is typically linked to the PRSP process, given that government’s commitment to a poverty reduction strategy is usually required in order to attain the funds. Off-budget supports are aid assistance that are spent outside the national budget; in other words, assistance provided by a donor and/or implementing agency that bypasses the core national budget. These are additional resources that come to government apart from the revenue collected.
By Zainab Iyamide Joaque