By Munachimso Obienyi
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari will today lay the 2023 Appropriation Bill before a joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja.
Ahead of the Federal Government budget presentation, the House of Representatives, yesterday, passed the 2023–2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which the President earlier presented to the National Assembly.
The passage followed the consideration of the report of the Committee on Finance on the MTEF/FSP by the Committee of Supply.
The House approved an aggregate FGN expenditure of N19.76 trillion made up of total recurrent (non-debt) of N8.53 trillion; personnel costs (MDAs) of N827.8 billion; capital expenditure (exclusive of transfers), N3.96 trillion; special intervention (recurrent) of N350 billion; and special intervention (capital) of N7 billion.
The Federal Government had proposed a budget with estimates totalling N19.76 trillion, while the deficit was to hover between N11.30 trillion and N12.41 trillion in the 2023 fiscal year.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, at the public hearing organised by the House on the MTEF/FSP, had decried that the government might be unable to provide for treasury funded capital projects next year, especially due to dwindling revenue and payment of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol.
Ahmed, while noting that the government had two options, had said the first scenario assumed that subsidy on PMS, which was estimated to be N6.7 trillion for a full year, would remain in 2023 and be fully provided for.
