President Bola Tinubu will present the 2024 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday.
The Secretary of Research and Information at the National Assembly, Dr Ali Barde Umoru, said this on Monday while confirming the budget presentation to journalists and requesting a list of those to be allowed into the chamber.
Three weeks prior to the budget presentation, Tinubu had presented the 20224–2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) to both chambers of the National Assembly. In it, he suggested a total expenditure profile for the 2024 fiscal year of N26.1 trillion.
The budget framework was adopted by the House of Representations and Senate through its committee on Finance following weeks of interactive meetings with the heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies regarding their revenue and expenditure projections.
Although a budget of earlier N26.1tn was planned for 2024, it appears that this may have been increased during the just concluded Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
FEC okays proposed budget
The Federal Government approved the sum of N27.5 trillion for the 2024 Appropriation Bill.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, disclosed this to State House correspondents on Monday after the weekly FEC meeting.
He said that the President will disclose additional budget specifics during his presentation of the budget to the National Assembly.
The MTEF, which had already been approved by the National Assembly, was reviewed, he added.
Therefore, according to Bagudu, the revised MTEF parameters have raised the revenue target for the upcoming fiscal year to N18 trillion.
He said:
“The federal executive council considered the 2024 Appropriation bill. The MTEF was earlier approved by the National Assembly. It has an exchange rate of N700 to a dollar and a crude oil benchmark of $73.
“To improve revenue, the council further reviewed the MTEF, with an exchange rate of N750 to a dollar, and a crude oil benchmark of $77. This will significantly improve revenue.”