The Senate has passed the 2024 budget for a third reading, approving an increase of N1.2tn, bringing the total budget to N28.7tn from the initially proposed N27.5tn.
The decision, determined by a voice vote led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, followed the consideration of the Appropriation Bill’s report presented by Senator Adeola Solomon, the Chairman of the Appropriation Committee.
Breaking down the budget, the Senate set the Aggregate Expenditure at 28,777,404,073,861 Naira, with Statutory Transfers at 1,742,786,788,150 Naira, Recurrent Expenditure at 8,768,5330,852 Naira, Capital Expenditure at 9,995,143,298,028 Naira, and the GDP at 3.88%.
President Bola Tinubu had initially presented a budget of N27.5tn on November 29, projecting a deficit of N9.18tn, which represents 3.88% of Nigeria’s GDP.
Tinubu highlighted a lower deficit compared to the previous year, stating, “The N9.18 trillion deficit is lower than the N13.78 trillion deficit recorded in 2023, which represents 6.11% of GDP.”
To cover the deficit, President Tinubu outlined plans for new borrowings amounting to N7.83tn, N298.49bn from Privatization Proceeds, and a drawdown of 1.05 trillion naira on multilateral and bilateral loans secured for specific development projects.
The Senate’s approval of the revised budget marks a crucial step in Nigeria’s fiscal planning for the upcoming year.
