President Bola Tinubu set to present his first budget to the joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja on Wednesday.
The presentation of the budget was disclosed in a memo by the Secretary, Human Resources and Staff Development, Shaibu Maina Birma on behalf of the Clerk to the National Assembly.
The memo, which was addressed to the Clerk to the National Assembly and other management staff, indicated that President Tinubu will make the presentation on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, at a time yet to be disclosed.
Part of the memo reads: “I am directed to inform you that the 2024 Budget would be presented by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the Joint Session of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Wednesday, 29th November 2023,” it read.
While directing strict compliance, the memo noted that only accredited NASS staff and non-staff only shall be allowed entry.
Meanwhile, the Federal Executive Council has approved a 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion.
This followed the review of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework earlier passed by the National Assembly which benchmarked the exchange rate at N700 to $1 and crude oil price at $73.96 cent per barrel.
Briefing State House Correspondents shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, said it revised the MTEF and the Fiscal Policy to use an exchange rate of N750 to $1 and also a benchmark crude oil reference price of $77.96 per barrel.
According to Bagudu, the FEC also approved an Appropriation Bill for 2024 with an aggregate expenditure of N27.5 trillion, an increase of over N1.5 trillion from the previously estimated.
He also noted that using the old reference prices, the forecast revenue is now N18.2 trillion which is higher than the 2023 revenue, including that provided in the two supplementary budgets, in which the deficit is lower than that of 2023.
