The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has commenced digitalising fiscal data collection across the 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory and 774 Local Government Areas to improve the accuracy and timeliness of economic statistics for policy decisions.
The initiative will replace the largely manual, twice-yearly Sub-National Fiscal Survey with a more efficient digital system for sustainable quarterly submission of fiscal data.
Besides, the move is aimed at strengthening the country’s economic data architecture and providing policymakers with reliable information on government revenue, expenditure, borrowing requirements and other fiscal activities at the sub-national level.
At a stakeholders’ engagement in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the Director of the CBN Statistics Department, Dr Usman Moses Okpanachi, said reliable fiscal statistics were critical to effective economic management and evidence-based policymaking.
He explained that the quality of fiscal data had significant implications for monetary and fiscal policy decisions, particularly as the apex bank strengthened its forward-looking, data-dependent monetary policy framework and moved towards a more explicit inflation-targeting regime.
He informed that reliable information on revenue performance, expenditure patterns, financing needs and fiscal pressures would enable policymakers to better understand public-sector activities and their implications for aggregate demand, liquidity, borrowing conditions and inflation.
He mentioned delays, logistical difficulties, validation challenges and lengthy processing periods as some of the shortcomings associated with the existing manual reporting system.
He said digitalisation would address these challenges through standardised data entry, improved validation procedures, simplified submissions and better monitoring of returns, including the ability to track corrections.
He emphasised that the transition to digital reporting was not a substitute for proper financial record-keeping, reconciliation and professional judgement, urging state and local government authorities to ensure that the technology was supported by strong institutional practices.
He implored the governments to prioritise timely submission, data integrity and continuity by ensuring proper validation and reconciliation of fiscal information and appointing designated officers to coordinate the exercise.
Okpanachi said the success of the initiative would be measured by improved completeness and consistency of returns, faster submissions, stronger validation processes and the availability of more reliable fiscal information for decision-making.
He also assured participating states and local governments of the CBN’s continued technical and operational support through its branches and Statistics Department.
