Federal government of Nigeria has said it will return to the National Assembly for appropriation of extra revenue in 2024 if the country records a solid revenue performance.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Wale Edun said this when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance, led by Sani Musa.
Two weeks ago, President Bola Tinubu presented a N27.5 trillion budget proposal for 2024 to the National Assembly.
Speaking on the development, Edun said the revenue performance of the country is encouraging, adding that “it is expected to continue”.
The Minister said, “There is a fiscal policy and tax reform committee that is already at work.
“It is meant to provide fundamental change together with digitalisation and greater efficiency in collection because it is revenue-to-debt that can allow us to increase this budget.
“If we have a solid revenue performance, we will come back, and I’m sure Mr President will authorize the process to return to the national assembly to appropriate extra revenue. That is a situation we are all looking forward to.”
He stated that to boost capital spending in the budget 2024 budget, the federal government is seeking ways to expedite the procurement process.
Edun said, “When we look at actual budget performance, expenditure as of the third quarter of the year, which is September, was 32 percent below the budget estimate, and revenue was five percent up.
“In the meantime, efforts have been made to raise tax revenue as a percentage of GDP from its relatively low figure of under 10 per cent, doubling now within two or three years to 18 per cent which is more than the African average, so that the government has enough money to spend, which it does not at the moment.”
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, while providing a breakdown of the budget, said the projected national revenue in 2024 is estimated at N18.32 trillion — marking a substantial 66 percent increase compared to the previous year’s budget.
