IMF: Nigeria’s unreported, off-budget spending worth 2% of GDP

• Urges greater fiscal transparency
 
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns that Nigeria’s public finance wing may be underreporting government spending equivalent to about two per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The fund, while calling for better fiscal transparency, warned that the gap distorts the country’s true fiscal position and complicates economic policymaking.
Speaking at a meeting with business executives in Lagos yesterday, IMF Resident Representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, disclosed that some public expenditures, particularly capital projects executed outside the formal budget process, were not reflected in recent budget ...