President Muhammadu Buhari will, on Friday, present to the National Assembly a budget proposal of N19.76 trillion for the 2023 fiscal year.
This was disclosed in the President’s letter read to lawmakers by Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, before commencement of yesterday’s session.
Lawan informed senators that the presentation will hold at the temporary chamber of the House of Representatives, which according him, has been designed to accommodate all 469 federal lawmakers, the President, and his entourage.
The Executive had, in August, at consideration of the budget proposal, announced through Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, that the total budget size would be N19.76 trillion.
She said the Federal Government, in the 2023 fiscal year, might not be able to make provision for treasury funded capital projects, as deficit in the prosed budget would either be N11.30 trillion or N12.41trillion.
Basic assumptions for the proposed N19.76 trillion budget are: $70 per barrel oil price benchmark; projected daily oil production of 1.69 million barrels; exchange rate of N435.57 to a dollar; 3.7% real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate and 17.16% inflation rate.
The minister added that the government is projecting total revenue of N8.46 trillion, out of which N1.9 trillion is expected to come from oil-related sources, while the balance would come from non-oil sources.
She lamented that revenue generation has remained a major fiscal constraint for the country, resulting in the proposed N11.30 trillion budget deficit for 2023, from N7.35 trillion in 2022, representing 5.01 per cent of the estimated GDP, above the three per cent threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), 2007.
Source: Guardian.ng
