BUHARI PRESENTS THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WITH THE BUDGET FOR 2023

President Muhammadu Buhari presented the N20.5 trillion 2023 Appropriation Bill to the joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja on Friday, October 7.

The ceremony began around 10 a.m. in the House of Representatives' temporary chamber. It is the fourth joint session and President Buhari's final budget presentation.

The national assembly had approved the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) and fiscal strategy paper (FSP), which will serve as the foundation for the 2023 budget.

The national assembly had approved the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) and fiscal strategy paper (FSP), which will serve as the foundation for the 2023 budget.

Buhari stated during his presentation of the details that the 2023 transition budget was designed to address critical issues and lay a solid foundation for the incoming administration.

According to him, revenue generation should be around N16.87 trillion based on the parameters and fiscal assumptions.

"We expect the total fiscal operations of the federal government to result in a deficit of N10.78 trillion. This represents 4.78 percent of estimated GDP, slightly above the 3 percent threshold set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

As envisaged by the law, we need to exceed this threshold considering the need to continue to tackle the existential security challenges facing the country," the president said.

He explained that the budget deficit will be financed mainly through borrowings and this would include new borrowings totalling N8.80 trillion, N206.18 billion from privatisation proceeds and N1.77 trillion drawdowns on bilateral/multilateral loans secured for specific development projects/programmes.

The benchmark for the price of crude oil is put at $73 per barrel for 2023, the exchange rate at N437.57 and daily oil production of 1.69mbpd, 1.83mbpd, and 1.83mbpd for 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively.