2023 Budget to be passed in December – Senate

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The Nigerian Senate disclosed that it will pass the 2023 Appropriation Bill of N20.5 trillion before the end of December

This was disclosed by Nigeria’s Senate President, Ahmed Lawan on Tuesday in Abuja  at a reception organised after he received the national honour of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON).

President Muhammed Buhari proposed the N20.5 trillion budget to the National Assembly last week.

What the Senate President said:

On The budget titled “Budget of Fiscal Sustainability and Transition”, Lawan stated that the Senate would begin debate on the bill on Wednesday.

“Tomorrow, we will start the debate on the 2023 appropriation bill. As we did for the three previous sessions, we are going to pass it before the end of December.

“We are purposeful and we are focused. It’s not for nothing that the presidency decided to honour 12 of us.

“They know our contribution to not only the administration of good governance but also the stability of the polity.

“I strongly believe that the national assembly of today has provided so much input into political stability in Nigeria. The records are there.

“People can look at what we have done and also those things that we didn’t do. I believe that our colleagues in the 9th senate worked so hard.”

On the number of female senators, the senate president said: “We don’t know why the number is small but they have capacity. These are very experienced legislators, adding that the Senate wishes to see more female legislators as it is only logical.

He added that The number of recipients from the Senate for National Honours this time is the highest.

“We judiciously agreed that anything that will be good for Nigerians must be done.

“By the time we are leaving in 2023, we will leave with our heads high.”

What you should know

• Last week, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2023 fiscal budget to the joint session of the National Assembly.  Buhari proposed an annual budget of N20.51 trillion for the year 2023, a 19.8% increase when compared to the N17.13 trillion approved for 2022 including the supplementary budget.
• Nairametrics research revealed that the budget won’t be enough, citing that total revenue available to fund the budget for the year was estimated at N9.73 trillion, leaving a deficit of N10.78 trillion, they said:
• On the other hand, recurrent expenditure increased by 19.68% from N6.91 trillion to N8.27 trillion, while debt service cost surged by 74.83% from N3.61 trillion to N6.31 trillion in the proposed budget.
• While the aggregate budget proposal increased compared to the previous year, it appears to be the same when an inflation rate of 20.52% is accounted for. A grimmer picture is even painted when converted to dollars and compared to other African countries.
• Using the prevailing exchange rate of N439.2/$ at the official market, the 2023 budget stood at $46.7 billion, a huge variance when compared to the likes of Egypt ($111 billion – 2022 budget), South Africa ($119.1 billion), and India ($478.6 billion).

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