Lawmakers Pass ₦54.99trn 2025 Budget Amid Fiscal Concerns
The National Assembly on Thursday passed the ₦54.99trn 2025 Appropriation Bill.
The bill was passed separately by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
A breakdown of the budget showed N3.645trn for statutory transfers, N14.317trn for debt servicing, N13.64trn for recurrent expenditure and N23.963trn capital expenditure (development fund), with fiscal deficit put at N13.08trn.
The Deficit-to-Gross domestic product (GDP) Ratio was put at 1.52%.
Last Week, President Bola Tinubu increased the 2025 fiscal year budget from an initial N49.7trn to N54.2trn, seeking approval from the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Bichi, while presenting the bill for consideration, stated that the committee met with the Presidential Economic Planning team to further discuss revenue projections and expenditure for the 2025 Appropriation Bill.
According to him, the 2025 Appropriation Bill was presented late, compared to that of 2024.
He urged the executive to present subsequent budgets to the National Assembly not later than three months before the next financial year, to maintain the January to December budget cycle.