President Bola Tinubu has officially signed the 2024 Appropriation Bill into law at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, marking the commencement of Nigeria’s fiscal year.
The budget, totaling N28.7 trillion, was approved by the National Assembly and signed by Tinubu upon his return from a week-long holiday in Lagos.
This budget surpasses the initial proposal by N1.2 trillion, as outlined by the President during his presentation to the joint session of the National Assembly in November 2023.
President Tinubu highlighted a deficit of N9.18 trillion for the fiscal year, lower than the previous year’s deficit of N13.78 trillion, amounting to 6.11% of the GDP.
The deficit is set to be financed through various channels, including new borrowings totaling N7.83 trillion, N298.49 billion from Privatisation Proceeds, and a drawdown of N1.05 trillion from multilateral and bilateral loans secured for specific development projects.
President Tinubu stressed the importance of adhering to the January-December implementation cycle, aiming for the swift enactment of the Appropriation Act by January 1, 2024.
The Senate’s recent adjustment to the budget increased it by N1.2 trillion, elevating the total expenditure to N28.7 trillion.
The breakdown, as outlined in the report by the Appropriation Committee led by Senator Solomon Adeola, indicates allocations for statutory transfers, recurrent expenditure, capital expenditure, and a GDP growth projection of 3.88 per cent.
