AFTER raising the N20,507,942,180,704 Budget 2023 presented to it by President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Assembly passed the Appropriation Bill yesterday.

The Senate and the House of Assembly passed N21, 827,188,747,391.00 as the Appropriation Bill for next year.

On October 7, President Buhari presented N20, 507,942,180,704 to the joint section of the National Assembly for consideration and passage.

Yesterday’s passage followed the presentation and consideration of the reports of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Appropriation separately by both chambers.

The N20,507,942,180,704 Appropriation Bill for 2023 proposed by Buhari comprised of Statutory Transfers of N744.11 billion, Non-Debt Recurrent Expenditure of N8.27 trillion, Capital Expenditure of N5.35 trillion and Debt Service of N6,557,597,611,797.00.

The approved N21, 827,188,747,391.00 Budget for the 2023 fiscal year is made up of Statutory Transfers (N967,486,010,536); Debt Service (N6, 557,597,611,797.00); Recurrent Non-Debt Expenditure (N8,329,370,195,637.00) and Capital Expenditure of (N5,972,734,929,421.00).

Some of the parameters of the budget include: Oil Benchmark ($75 per barrel); Daily oil production benchmark (1.69 million barrels); Exchange Rate (N435.57/$1); Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Growth Rate (3.75%) and Inflation Rate (17.16%).

The approved budget shows that the National Assembly raised the statutory transfers from N774, 109,468,797 billion earlier presented by Buhari to N967, 486,010,536.00.

It also jacked up the Recurrent Non-Debt Expenditure from N8, 271,882,354,405 to N8, 329,370,195,637; Ccapital Expenditure from N4, 934,352,745,705.00 to N5, 972,734,929,421.00.

Both chambers, however, retained the Debt Service amount at N6, 557,597,611,797.00 as proposed by the Executive.

Also yesterday, both chambers of the National Assembly passed a Supplementary Budget of N819.5 billion for the 2022 fiscal year.

The N819.5 billion Supplementary Budget for 2022, according to the National Assembly, is to fund capital projects to be handled by four Federal Government ministries to as follows: Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (N69,247,175,770.00); Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (N704,789,762,043.00); Federal Capital Territory N30 billion) and Federal Ministry of Water Resources (N15.5 billion).

Other sectoral allocations are: Independent National Electoral Commission (N173.6 billion); National Judicial Council (N165 billion); Niger Delta Development Commission (N119.9 billion) and Universal Basic Education (N103.2 billion), among others.

According to the report, the aggregate revenue/inflow expected by the Federal Government in the 2023 fiscal year is N9, 725,863,747,173.00.

The 2023 budget however contained a deficit of N10, 782,070,435,531.00.

The government plans to deficit to be sourced from debt financing instruments to the tune of N8, 804,491,636,509.00; Asset Sales/Privatisation (N206,182,616,701) and Multi-lateral/Bi-lateral projected Loans (N1,771,404,182,321.00).

Of the recurrent (non-debt) Expenditure, the Ministry of Defence got the lion’s share of N1.098 trillion; Police Affairs (N777.408 billion); Education (N663.971 billion); Health (N578.99 billion); Interior (N278.69 billion); Youth and Sports Development (N187.196 billion); National Security Adviser (N172.6 billion); Foreign Affairs (N93.68 billion); Agriculture and Rural Development (N85.4 billion) and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (N70 billion).

The recommendation of the Joint National Assembly Committees on Appropriation that “A Bill for an Act to Authorise the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the sum of N21,827,188,747,391 only; N967,486,010,536.00 for Statutory Transfers; N6,557,597,611,797 for Debt Service; N8,329,370,195,637 for Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure and N5,972,734,929,421.00 for contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure for the year ending 31st Day of December, 2023, was approved by both chambers.

The National Assembly also approved the extension of the implementation of the 2022 capital budget till March 31, 2023.

Also passed yesterday was the Finance Bill 2022, which amended existing relevant Tax laws in line with the Macroeconomic Policy Reforms of the Federal Government.

Both chambers of the National Assembly also passed a budget of N262, 959,510,955.00 for the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the 2023 fiscal year.

The N262 billion FIRS’s budget consist of N126,070,912,538 (Personnel Cost); N96,061,565,065 (Overhead Cost) and N40,827,033,352 (Capital Expenditure).

 The National Assembly adjourned plenary to January 17, 2023.

THE NATION