Senate passes N28.7tn 2024 Budget

By Matthew Denis

On Saturday the Senate has approved the 2024 Appropriation Bill, a budget of N28.7 trillion for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Senate also increased the bill by a total of N1.2tn, resulting in an adjustment of the budget from N27.5tn to N28.7tn.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who presided over the sitting on Saturday, announced that the National Assembly has approved the following allocations: Statutory Transfers would be N1,742,786,708,150; Debt Service would amount to N8,270,960,606,831; Recurrent Non-debt Expenditure would be N8,768,513,380,852, and N9,995,143,298,028 would be allocated for contributions to the development fund for capital expenditure.

The passage followed the consideration of a report by the Appropriations Committee on the 2024 Appropriations Bill, as presented by its chair, Senator Adeola Olamilekan (APC, Ogun).

Akpabio noted that the document would immediately be transmitted to the President for his assent, facilitating the commencement of implementation by January 1.

The Senate also adjusted the exchange rate from N750 to N800 per dollar. Additionally, the proposed figures from the executive arm of the government, including the 1.78mbpd daily oil production, US$77.96 oil benchmark price, and a GDP growth rate of 3.88%, were approved.