By Raphael Ekpang
House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Appropriations, Hon. Abubakar Bichi has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the increment of capital budget, saying that it’s the first time in the last three to four years has gone up.
You can see this time around the Capital has been increased. This is the first time in three to four years that Capital has gone up. The capital has increased and the deficit has also gone down.
President Tinubu while presenting the budget said an aggregate expenditure of 27.5 trillion naira is proposed for the Federal Government in 2024, of which the non-debt recurrent expenditure is 9.92 trillion naira while debt service is projected to be 8.25 trillion naira and capital expenditure is 8.7 trillion naira.
He further said, Nigeria remains committed to meeting its debt obligations. Projected debt service is 45% of the expected total revenue.
Budget deficit is projected at 9.18 trillion naira in 2024 or 3.88 percent of GDP.
This is lower than the 13.78 trillion naira deficit recorded in 2023 which represents 6.11 percent of GDP.
The deficit will be financed by new borrowings totalling 7.83 trillion naira, 298.49 billion naira from Privatization Proceeds and 1.05 trillion naira drawdown on multilateral and bilateral loans secured for specific development projects.
Hon. Bichi Kano State born federal lawmaker said, increasing capital budget is a sign that President Tinubu has the masses at heart.
He made this known on Wednesday in Abuja shortly after President Tinubu had presented a N27.5 trillion budget proposal tagged, “Budget of Renewed Hope” to a joint session of the National Assembly. Hon. Abubakar Bichi said the passage of the 2024 budget is possible before the end of 2023.
However, Hon. Bichi noted that the 2024 Appropriations will be passed before the end of the year.
He further said that, the their work will commenced immediately, saying that they work even on days they sit to enable them achieve their aim of passing the budget before the end of December.
According to him, “We are going to be doing our work from Thursday to Friday, as you know we don’t work on Fridays, but this time around we’re going to work on Fridays and Saturdays as we begin budget defence
“We are going to invite all the MDAs to come and defend what they have done in 2023 and to explain in detail their proposal in the 2024 budget
.
“Of course, we’re going to work day and night to make sure the budget is passed before December 31st, 2023. It’s doable, we can do that”, he said.
“Another important aspect of the budget is that this time around the Capital has been increased. This is the first time in three to four years that Capital has gone up. The capital has increased and the deficit has also gone down.
“I think it’s very realistic and Mr president means well for the country. We’re going to work on the documents and do our analysis before we can make a final conclusion. So far, what we’ve seen, I think it’s a welcome development for the nation”, he added
