President Muhammadu Buhari arrived at the Joint National Assembly legislature to present the 2023 budget.
Bellnewsonline.com Earlier reported that the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, at the plenary on Tuesday, said that the presentation of the N19.76 trillion budget would take place at 10 am at the temporary chambers of the House of Representatives.
Security has however been beefed up around the National Assembly Complex since early Friday morning, ahead of the President’s visit.
Personnel of various security outfits could be seen in and around the complex.
It would be the last budget presentation by Buhari to the lawmakers as his tenure in office ends in May 2023.
In preparation for the budget presentation, the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) for 2023–2025 was approved by the Senate and the House within the same week.
A document called the MTEF/FSP contains guidelines that are used to create the annual budget.
The expected spending for the 2023 fiscal year is N19.7 trillion, with Total Recurrent (Non-Debt) of N8.53 trillion, Personnel Costs (MDAs) of N827.8 billion, and Capital Expenditure (Excluding Transfers) of N3.96 trillion, according to the document authorised by the MPs.
The benchmark for crude oil prices is set at $73 per barrel for 2023, with the exchange rate at N437.57 and the daily oil output at 1.69 million barrels per day (mbpd) for 2023, 1.83 million bpd for 2024, and 1.83 million bpd for 2025, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Buhari government reneged on all its projections with the oil production in million barrels per day dropping to an abysmal 900,000 barrels per day.
During the presentation of the 2022 budget, Buhari said, “Defence and internal security will continue to be our top priority. We remain firmly committed to the security of life, property and investment nationwide. We will continue to ensure that our gallant men and women in the armed forces, police and paramilitary units are properly equipped, remunerated and well-motivated.
The 2022 budget is also the first in our history, where MDAs were clearly advised on gender responsive budgeting. These are part of critical steps in our efforts to distribute resources fairly and reach vulnerable groups of our society.
“Distinguished Members of the National Assembly, the 2022 to 2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper sets out the parameters for the 2022 Budget as follows;
“Conservative oil price benchmark of 57 US Dollars per barrel; daily oil production estimate of 1.88 million barrels (inclusive of Condensates of 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day); Exchange rate of four 410.15 per US Dollar; and projected GDP growth rate of 4.2 percent and 13 percent inflation rate.
“Based on these fiscal assumptions and parameters, total federally-collectible revenue is estimated at N17.70trillion in 2022.”