The Federal Government recorded N11.89 trillion in fresh borrowings within the first nine months of 2025, while spending just N3.10 trillion on capital projects during the same period, according to the 2025 third-quarter Budget Implementation Report released by the Budget Office of the Federation.
The report showed that the new borrowings comprised N7.08 trillion in domestic loans and N4.81 trillion in multilateral and bilateral project-tied loans.
Despite a budget provision of N1.38 trillion for foreign borrowing during the period, no foreign loans were recorded.
Data from the report showed that actual borrowing surpassed the three-quarter projection of N10.34 trillion by N1.54 trillion, representing an increase of 14.91 per cent.
Meanwhile, capital expenditure performance remained significantly below target. Out of the N17.58 trillion budgeted for capital projects within the first nine months of 2025, only N3.10 trillion was spent, leaving a funding gap of N14.48 trillion or 82.34 per cent.
The report further revealed that total deficit financing items stood at N12.07 trillion during the period, exceeding the projected N10.58 trillion by N1.49 trillion or 14.12 per cent.
Domestic borrowing accounted for N7.08 trillion, higher than the N6.44 trillion budgeted by N639.89 billion or 9.94 per cent.
Multilateral and bilateral project-tied loans rose sharply to N4.81 trillion against a target of N2.52 trillion, exceeding projections by N2.28 trillion or 90.54 per cent.
According to the Budget Office, the third-quarter deficit was financed through domestic borrowing, privatisation proceeds and project-tied loans.
Available financing sources during the quarter included:
- N970 billion from domestic borrowing
- N120.61 billion from privatisation proceeds
- N3.13 trillion from multilateral and bilateral project-tied loans
Although borrowings increased, actual capital project implementation remained weak across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
Capital expenditure by MDAs and other government agencies stood at N1.21 trillion, compared to the N13.90 trillion target, representing a shortfall of N12.69 trillion or 91.31 per cent.
Government-owned enterprises recorded capital spending of N615.68 billion, fully matching their budget allocation.
Grants and donor-funded projects exceeded expectations, reaching N1.08 trillion against a projection of N541.43 billion.
However, no expenditure was recorded under the multilateral and bilateral project-tied loan capital expenditure category despite a budget provision of N2.52 trillion.
