President Muhammadu Buhari is to present a budget of N19.76 trillion to the National Assembly on Friday.
The Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Ben Akabueze had earlier said that the President would make the presentation last month.
He had said the budget was prepared in tandem with extant Federal Government policies and guidelines as articulated in the 2023 Budget Call Circular and other relevant laws and regulations.
On New Year’s eve, President signed the 2022 Appropriation Bill into law with an aggregate expenditures of N17.127 trillion, an increase of N735.85 billion over the initial executive proposal for a total expenditure of N16.391 trillion.
The President had laid the budget proposal before the National Assembly on 7th October 2021. Exactly a year after, he will be present the 2023 budget proposal.
At the resumption of plenary on Tuesday, Senate President Ahmad Lawan read President Buhari’s letter of request to present the budget at plenary.
The presentation, according to the letter, would take place by 10:00 am at the temporary chamber of the House of Representatives due to ongoing renovation works in both chambers.
The outgoing 2022 budget has a deficit of about N6.25 trillion, approximately 3.39 percent of GDP, which is slightly above the three percent ceiling set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.
In signing the budget, President Buhari however alluded that the expenditure level was necessary to assist with overcoming current security challenges and accelerate post-recession growth. He insisted that Nigeria only has a revenue challenge and not a debt sustainability problem.
