November: Buhari regime had N6.37trn fiscal deficit  — Finance Minister

The Finance Minister, Ms Zainab Ahmed revealed that the President Muhammadu Buhari regime had spent N12.87 trillion of the N17.126 trillion budgeted for last year, as of November 30, 2022. This, she said, represented a fiscal deficit of N6.37 trillion.

She said this at the Public Presentation and Breakdown of the Approved Federal Government 2023 Budget on Wednesday in Abuja.

“Out of the N12.87 trillion, N5.24 trillion was for debt service and N3.94 trillion was for personnel costs.

“The actual spending as of November 30 was N12.87 trillion.

“Of this amount, N5.24 trillion was for debt service; N3.94 trillion for Personnel Costs, including pensions; Statutory Transfers, Overhead and Service Wide Votes expenditures totalled N1.81 trillion; and N1.88 billion was released for capital expenditure,” she added

Meanwhile, the Minister said the fiscal deficit for 2022 was estimated at N8.17 trillion, inclusive of the supplementary budget.

“The deficit was totally financed by borrowings, mostly from domestic sources.”

President Buhari signed the 2023 Appropriation Bill of N21.83 trillion into law on Tuesday.

Hence, the 2023 budget was passed by the National Assembly (NASS) on December 28, 2022 after it was laid before a joint session of the NASS on October 7, 2022.

The focus of the 2023 Appropriation Act was to maintain fiscal viability and ensure smooth transition to an incoming administration.

The Act is also known as “Budget of Fiscal Consolidation and Transition.”

Meanwhile, the Finance Bill 2022 was also passed to reinforce the administration’s public financial management reforms.

The Appropriation Act is expected to make key reforms on tax laws and others.