Federal Executive Council Approves N27.5 Trillion Appropriation Bill For 2024

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the 2024 Appropriation Bill, which raises the budget proposal from the initial N26.01 trillion to N27.5 trillion.

It was approved during the FEC's weekly meeting held in Abuja on Monday. President Bola Tinubu will present the bill before a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

"The bill has an aggregate expenditure of N27.5tn which is an increase of over N1.5tn from the previously estimated, using the old reference prices," said Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, minister of budget and economic planning of Nigeria, Punch reported. "The forecast revenue is now N18.32tn which is higher than the 2023 revenues, including that provided in the two supplementary budgets."

The minister pointed out that the "deficit is lower than that of 2023" and the details of the Renewed Hope Budget will be announced by the president Wednesday.

At Monday's meeting, the FEC also made some changes in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) benchmarks.

"That approved Medium Term Expenditure Framework has the exchange rate of N700 to $1 and equally, the benchmark crude oil price at $73.96 cent," Bagudu said. "The Federal Executive Council further revised the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Policy Framework and two of the important decisions were to use an exchange rate of N750 to $1 and also a benchmark crude oil reference price of $77.96, meaning $4 more than the earlier approval."

Tinubu believes the change will help to increase the government's revenue, which could be used in "supporting the ministries, departments and agencies in the execution of the eight priority areas, particularly Health, Education, infrastructure, security and other developmental areas."

Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, said the council also approved a $1 billion "concessionary loan for general budget support and to be used to improve forex availability in the country" from the African Development Bank.

The loan will support ongoing economic reforms, including the power sector, social inclusion and fiscal policy reforms.

"So, in a nutshell, the policy on VAT removal on diesel is from them, they are looking to help boost the fiscal situation of the government by increasing revenue, particularly tax revenue, through digitalization, additional efficiency and rationalization of the range of taxes that we have at the moment," Edun explained.

Last month, FEC also approved a $3.45 billion loan application to financially support five projects that concern the power and renewable energy sectors, the states' resource mobilization programs, girls' education and women empowerment.