President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday signed the 2023 Appropriation Bill of N21.83 trillion into law.
President Buhari at the signing of the eighth and final annual budget of his administration, noted that there is an increase of N1.32 trillion in the aggregate budget of N21.83 trillion from the initial Executive Proposal for a total expenditure of N20.51 trillion.
The National Assembly six days ago, passed the budget bill.
President Buhari emphasised that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, will subsequently provide more details on the approved budget and the supporting 2022 Finance Act.
The President declared: “We have examined the changes made by the National Assembly to the 2023 Executive Budget proposal.
“The amended fiscal framework for 2023 as approved by the National Assembly shows additional revenues of N765.79 billion and an unfunded deficit of N553.46 billion.
“It is clear that the National Assembly and the executive need to capture some of the proposed additional revenue sources in the fiscal framework. This must be rectified.
“I have also noted that the National Assembly introduced new projects into the 2023 budget proposal for which it has appropriated N770.72 billion. The National Assembly also increased the provisions made by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) by N58.55 billion.”
President Buhari noted that he decided to sign the 2023 Appropriation Bill into law as passed by the National Assembly, to enable the implementation of the budget to commence without delay, considering the imminent transition process to another democratically elected government.
The president mandated the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning to engage with the Legislature to revisit some of the changes made to the Executive budget proposal, expressing the hope that the National Assembly will cooperate with the Executive arm of Government in this regard.
Buhari told the National Assembly to reconsider its position on his proposal to securitize the Federal Government’s outstanding Ways and Means of balance at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“As I stated, the balance has accumulated over several years and represents funding provided by the CBN as lender of last resort to the government to enable it to meet obligations to lenders, as well as cover budgetary shortfalls in projected revenues and/or borrowings.
“I have no intention to fetter the right of the National Assembly to interrogate the composition of this balance, which can still be done even after granting the requested approval.
“Failure to grant the securitization approval will however cost the government about N1.8 trillion in additional interest in 2023 given the differential between the applicable interest rates which is currently MPR plus 3% and the negotiated interest rate of 9% and a 40year repayment period on the securitised debt of the Ways and Means,” President Buhari said.