Nigerian govt proposes N19.7tr budget for 2023

The Federal Government has proposed a 2023 budget of N19.76 trillion.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed at a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

She said the 2023 budget had a proposed deficit of N11.3 trillion.

Ahmed said the government was projecting revenue of N8.46 trillion for 2023; out of which N1.9 trillion would come from oil-related sources and the balance from non-oil sources.

The budget, according to the minister, will be premised on a $70 oil per barrel benchmark and an exchange rate of N435.57 to the dollar.

She said oil production for 2023 was pegged at 1.69 million barrels per day; a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 3.7 percent and an inflation rate of 17.16 percent.

She hinted that petrol subsidy would remain up to mid-2023 following the 18-month extension announced by the federal government early in 2021.

READ ALSO:2023 BUDGET: Nigerian govt projects N8.52trn for staff salaries, others, Presidency gets N14.2bn

Ahmed revealed that N3.36 trillion would be provided by the government to pay the subsidy in 2023.

The minister said: “We planned that 60 percent of revenue would be spent on debt servicing, but in some months, the ratio went up to 90 percent.

“We have been able to, consistently without fail, serviced our debt and we do not have any projections even in the near future that we will fail.

“We actually follow the Medium Term Debt Management Strategy very strictly; the debts are not taken haphazardly and they are planned.

“They are appropriated and then we borrow against appropriation.”

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