On the IMF’s 2026 Article IV Consultation, By Uddin Ifeanyi

The fund raised plenty of concerns about opaque financial arrangements, and its consequences (not good, obviously) for the economy. Off-budget spending appears to have increased last year. Government’s financing arrangements were too “complex” for the boffins at the fund (no chance, therefore, of the famed Nigerian on the street making any sense of these numbers). And fiscal reporting remained weak. Should it matter that last year, the IMF estimates a fiscal “statistical discrepancy” of 2.7 per cent of GDP — and how should it matter? The obvious implication, that spending may not have been fully captured in published fiscal accounts is worrying. But is this as big a source of concern as the fact that last year, the federal government’s interest payments used up about 53 per cent of federal revenue?