During a recent parliamentary session, Prime Minister Godwin Friday detailed the central government’s fiscal outturn for the first quarter of 2026, covering January 1st to March 31st.
Overall, the current revenue collected reached $193.4 million, which represents a marginal 0.6% decline from the $194.6 million collected during the same period in 2025.
Tax collection showed mixed results across different sectors. Taxes on goods and services saw a 6.4% increase, rising to $58.72 million from $54.05 million in 2025. Similarly, taxes on international trade performed favorably, bringing in $56.85 million compared to $44.36 million the previous year.
However, property taxes saw a sharp decline, dropping from $12.6 million in Q1 2025 to just $4.043 million in Q1 2026. Taxes on income and profits also experienced a slight 0.7% decrease, settling at $41.86 million.
On the spending side, current expenditure increased by 9% to $220.1 million, up from $201.92 million in 2025. A significant driver of this expenditure was employee compensation, which saw a 24.6% increase over the previous year.
Despite rising operational costs, the overall balance for the quarter resulted in a deficit of $44.96 million. This was a notable improvement over the budgeted deficit of $61.4 million and remained comparable to the $43.24 million deficit recorded during the same period in 2025.