In a historic presentation, President Bola Tinubu laid out the details of the N27.5 trillion budget proposal for the year 2024 to a joint session of the 10th National Assembly in Abuja. This marked President Tinubu’s inaugural annual budgetary presentation since assuming office six months ago.
Addressing the distinguished Senators and Honourable Members, President Tinubu expressed gratitude for the swift consideration and passage of the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bills and the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper. He commended their dedication to economic development and the welfare of the nation, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between the Executive and Legislative branches.
President Tinubu expressed confidence in the National Assembly’s commitment to thorough deliberations on the 2024 Budget, with the goal of enacting the Appropriation Act by January 1, 2024.
Reflecting on his administration’s past fiscal interventions, President Tinubu highlighted the abolition of the fuel subsidy regime and the negotiation of supplementary budgets to address economic challenges and uphold promises related to national security, infrastructure investment, and support for vulnerable households.
Presenting the “Budget of Renewed Hope,” President Tinubu outlined its key priorities, including macro-economic stability, deficit reduction, increased capital spending, and allocation to address the administration’s eight priority areas.
Addressing the prevailing economic environment, President Tinubu acknowledged global challenges such as post-COVID supply and production bottlenecks and armed conflicts. Despite these, he noted Nigeria’s resilient economy, with modest but positive growth over the past year.
President Tinubu emphasized the need to tackle inflation through effective coordination of fiscal and monetary policy measures and collaboration with sub-national governments to address structural factors driving inflation in Nigeria.
Providing a performance review of the 2023 budget, President Tinubu revealed that the Federal Government had achieved approximately 96 percent of its targeted revenue of 11.045 trillion naira as of September 30.
Highlighting the themes and priorities of the 2024 budget, President Tinubu underscored its focus on job-rich economic growth, macro-economic stability, a conducive investment environment, enhanced human capital development, poverty reduction, and improved social security access.
Top priorities in the budget include overhauling internal security architecture, prioritizing human development with a focus on children, ensuring value for money, transparency, and accountability, and implementing a more sustainable funding model for tertiary education.
President Tinubu projected a minimum economic growth of 3.76 percent, above the world average, and expected inflation to moderate to 21.4 percent in 2024. Emphasizing Nigeria’s commitment to a greener future, he highlighted provisions for public-private partnerships to leverage private capital for significant infrastructure projects in energy, transportation, and other sectors.
The budget, according to President Tinubu, represents a critical step toward diversifying the energy mix, enhancing efficiency, and supporting innovative and environmentally conscious initiatives for sustainable economic development.