Expenditure for Q1 2021 marginally below target of 6% – PFM Tax Africa
Public Financial Management Consulting firm, PFM Tax Africa Network, has stated that the government for the first quarter of 2021, marginally fell below its expenditure target of 6 percent.
According to the firm, total government expenditure for Q1 2021 totaled 5.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Adding that the government is not likely to achieve its 2021 expenditure target of 25.4 percent.
The 5.4 percent recorded expenditure for Q1 2021 constitutes 1.7 percent compensation payments, 1.9 percent interest payments and 0.8 percent capital expenditure.
PFM Tax Africa in its assessment of the country’s fiscal performance for Q1 2021 however, opines that government expenditure for the year faces fiscal pressures from recently negotiated wages increases, interest payments, higher borrowing to meet expanded infrastructure, education and other social expenditure promises.
On the country’s revenue performance for Q1 2021, the government, however, failed to meet its target revenue of 3.7 percent and 2.8 percent total and tax revenues respectively.
According to PFM Tax Africa, actual provisions of total and tax revenues for Q1 2021, is 3 percent and 2.4 percent respectively.
On the back of the unrealized revenue targets for Q1 2021, the Network asserts that there is the need for higher performance in the remaining quarters to achieve the annual target of 16.7 percent of GDP revenue target.
