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….forwards MTEF ahead of 2024 budget
By Haruna Salami
President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, asked the Senate to expeditiously consider and approve a supplementary budget of N2.17 trillion for the economy.
Tinubu’s request was contained in a letter read by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio at plenary on Tuesday.
The country’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the supplementary appropriation on Monday, when it met in Abuja.
When approved by the National Assembly, the 2023 budget, which was the last appropriation bill of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, will rise to N28.17 trillion.
In his letter, Tinubu explained that the supplementary budget would support the provisional wage of N35,000 to workers, costing the federal government N210 billion and N400 billion as cash transfers to vulnerable Nigerians.
Tinubu also pointed out that the supplementary budget would shore up the country’s security and agricultural sectors.
Moreover, the President explained further that funds with which to prosecute the forthcoming elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo would be taken from the supplementary budget.
In a related development, President Tinubu also sent the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) ahead of the 2024 budget presentation, to the Senate for approval.
In the MTEF and FSP documents submitted, the federal government proposed $73.96 for the price of crude per barrel and an exchange rate of N700.
MTEF and FSP are documents containing the various indices, upon which the nation’s annual budget is predicated.
