President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday presented a budget of N27.5 trillion for 2024 to the National Assembly for approval.

Presenting the budget tagged “Budget of Renewed Hope”, Tinubu said that its main focus was on national defence, internal security, local job creation and macro-economic stability.

He said that the budget was made up of N9.92 trillion non-debt recurrent expenditure and N8.7 trillion capital expenditure, while N8.25 trillion was for debt service.

“Accordingly, an aggregate expenditure of N27.5 trillion is proposed for the Federal Government in 2024, of which the non-debt recurrent expenditure is N9.92 trillion, while debt service is projected to be N8.25 trillion and capital expenditure is N8.7 trillion.

“Nigeria remains committed to meeting its debt obligations. Projected debt service is 45 per cent of the expected total revenue.

Tinubu: 2024 budget’ll lay foundation for economic growth
“The budget deficit is projected at N9.18 trillion in 2024 or 3.88 per cent of GDP. This is lower than the N13.78 trillion deficit recorded in 2023, which represented 6.11 per cent of GDP.

“The deficit will be financed by new borrowings totalling N7.83 trillion, N298.49 billion from Privatization Proceeds, and N1.05 trillion draw down on multilateral and bilateral loans secured for specific development projects,” Tinubu said.

He said that the budget would also place priority on investment environment optimisation, human capital development, poverty reduction and social security.

Tinubu said the nation’s internal security architecture would be overhauled to enhance law enforcement capabilities with a view to safeguarding lives, property, and investments across the country.

On the economy, Tinubu said a stable macro-economic environment was crucial in his administration’s bid to catalyse private investment and accelerate economic growth.
He said that the government would continue to implement business and investment friendly measures for sustainable growth.

“We expect the economy to grow by a minimum of 3.76 per cent, above the forecasted world average. Inflation is expected to moderate to 21.4 per cent in 2024. In preparing the 2024 Budget, our primary objective has been to sustain our robust foundation for sustainable economic development.

“A critical focus of this budget and the medium-term expenditure framework is Nigeria’s commitment to a greener future,” he said.

The President said a conservative oil price benchmark of $77.96 per barrel and a daily oil production estimate of 1.78 million barrels per day were adopted after a review of global oil market trends, and that a naira to dollar exchange rate of N750 per dollar was adopted for 2024 as well.

Tinubu said his administration remains committed to broad-based and shared economic prosperity.

“We are reviewing social investment programmes to enhance their implementation and effectiveness. In particular, the National Social Safety Net project will be expanded to provide targeted cash transfers to poor and vulnerable households.”

He also said efforts would be made to further contain financial leakages through the effective implementation of key public financial management reforms.

The Star