Lagos Generates N400 Billion IGR In First Half Of 2023

The Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mosepefoluwa George, has disclosed that the state recorded an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of approximately N400 billion in the first six months of 2023.

George made the disclosure during the 2024 Budget Consultative Forum held in Ikeja.

“We’re fortunate because we are going in the right direction, and hopefully, we can continue to build on that to attract the right investments and funding to be able to independently finance our budgets and projects,” George said.

While highlighting the state’s strong credit rating as well as its encouraging IGR, the commissioner suggested a mix of IGR and various funding mechanisms, including public-private partnerships (PPPs), among others.

Touching on the informal sector, George said: “We have a significant informal sector, and we hope to tap into its potential benefits. It’s something the state is keen to explore. We have the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund that provides assistance to small and medium enterprises through loans and grants, and we will continue to enhance it. SMEs are integral to our economy.”

The forum was held across the five divisions within the state: Ikorodu, Badagry, Lagos Island, Epe, and Ikeja.

Lagos is Nigeria’s economic nerve centre and the biggest economy in the country. It is also said to be the fifth-largest economy in Africa.

In 2021, the state recorded an IGR of over N500 billion. Its GDP in 2022, stood at over $100 billion.

The state in its budget performance appraisal report for the 1st quarter of 2023, released around May, mulled plans to impose a “State Excise Tax” on harmful goods like alcohol and tobacco as well as betting and gambling.

According to the report released by the state Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, the government recorded a revenue performance of 76 percent (N269,609bn) in the first three months of this year.

To increase revenue, the report said the state must focus on improving its currently low tax penetration.

During the period under review, the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) recorded 87 percent performance while IGR performed at 36 percent.

With increasing investment towards infrastructural development, the report noted that the state government must begin to look towards creating business opportunities around proposed, ongoing, and established infrastructures.

The report also revealed that recurrent expenditure recorded a performance of 61 percent (N113,227bn), Capex recorded a performance of 75 percent (N191,686bn), while budget performed at 69 percent (N304.913bn).

While raising taxes on one hand to improve revenue generation, the report suggested that the state government must increase spending on projects with the highest rate of social return to stimulate the economy.

The report further revealed that total external debt as at December 2022 stood at $1.25bn, while total debt stock to GDP was 4.5 percent.

Also, total domestic debt as of December 2022 was put at N807.2bn, while domestic debt to external debt during the same period stood at 69 percent. Similarly, total revenue to total debt stock stood at 71.2 percent.