Babatunji Wusu –
If revenue increases, the federal government may send the N27.5 trillion 2024 Appropriations Bill back to the National Assembly for revisions.
Speaking before the Senate Committee on Finance, Finance Minister Wale Edun points to economic growth as justification for possible budget modification.
“The revenue performance was encouraging and is expected to continue being encouraging,” stated the Minister. A committee on tax reform and fiscal policy is already in operation. Together with digitization, it is intended to bring about fundamental change and boost collection efficiency, as it is debt revenue that may allow us to even raise this budget.
“We will return and, I’m confident, Mr. President would approve the procedure to bring the matter back to the National Assembly for more income appropriation if we have a strong revenue performance. We’re all looking forward to that scenario.
A few days ago, President Bola Tinubu submitted a N27.5 trillion 2024 Appropriations Bill spending plan to the National Assembly.
The President stated that his administration intends to grow the economy by at least 3.76 percent, above the projected global average, and that the “revised 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, and Fiscal Strategy Paper, FSP,” will serve as the guidelines for the 2024 budget.
In addition, Edun stated that in order to boost capital investment in the 2024 budget, the Federal Government was investigating ways to expedite the procurement process.
The speaker stated, “When we look at actual budget performance, expenditure as of September, the third quarter of the year, was 32% below the budget estimate. Revenue was 5% up, which is quite encouraging. Debt service was up 18% due to a change in the exchange rate, a depreciation of the currency, and the fact that we have approximately $46 billion in outstanding foreign debt.”
“Capital expenditures significantly underperformed the budget.” We are examining the problem of the procurement procedure and methods of expediting capital expenditure in relation to the overall budget balance.
The fiscal deficit is anticipated to decrease from N13.7 trillion to N9.2 trillion. More significantly, the deficit reduces the amount of the budget that must be financed by borrowing from 6.1% to 3.9% of GDP, while capital expenditures stay at 32% of GDP. This is how the budget is structured overall.
