The National Assembly has been presented with the N27.5 trillion national budget for 2024 by President Bola Tinubu.
The budget, known as the “Budget of Renewed Hope,” was introduced to the National Assembly’s joint session on Wednesday morning in Abuja.
President Tinubu announced that the country’s internal security architecture will be redesigned to improve law enforcement capacities to protect people, property, and investments across the nation during his speech to the joint session of the National Assembly on the 2024 budget plan.
“To enhance the efficacy of our budgetary performance, the government will prioritize guaranteeing value for money, increased accountability, and transparency.” We will collaborate more closely in this area with the commercial sector and development partners.
Speaking about the economy, President Tinubu stated that his government will keep putting business- and investment-friendly policies into place to ensure sustainable growth. He claimed that a stable macroeconomic environment was essential to his administration’s efforts to spur private investment and quicken economic growth.
“We anticipate the economy will grow at least 3.76 percent faster than the projected global average. By 2024, inflation is predicted to have decreased to 21.4%. Maintaining our strong base for long-term economic growth has been our main goal in creating the 2024 budget. The medium-term expenditure framework and this budget both place a strong emphasis on Nigeria’s commitment to a greener future.
The President stated that following a thorough analysis of trends in the global oil market, a conservative benchmark for oil prices of 77.96 US dollars per barrel and an estimate of 1.78 million barrels per day of oil production were adopted. Additionally, an exchange rate of N750 US dollars for each barrel of oil was adopted for 2024.
The President explained the details of the 2024 Appropriations Bill, saying: “Therefore, an overall expenditure of 27.5 trillion naira is proposed for the Federal Government in 2024, of which 9.92 trillion naira is non-debt recurrent expenditure, 8.25 trillion naira is projected for debt service, and 8.7 trillion naira is for capital expenditure. Nigeria is still determined to pay off its debt. 45 percent of the anticipated total revenue is allocated to debt servicing.
In 2024, a 9.18 trillion naira budget deficit, or 3.88 percent of GDP, is anticipated. This is less than the 13.78 trillion naira deficit (6.11% of GDP) that was noted in 2023. 1.05 trillion naira would be taken out of international and bilateral loans obtained for certain development projects, 298.49 billion naira from privatization revenues, and additional borrowings totaling 7.83 trillion naira will be used to cover the gap.
President Tinubu was informed earlier by Senate President Godswill Akpabio in his speech that the National Assembly was dedicated to unbundling various government agencies in order to increase efficiency and save costs.
In order for the heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of Government (MDAs) to appear before the National Assembly for their budget defense hearings in 2024, he pleaded with the President to rein them in.
