The National Assembly has passed the N54.9 trillion budget for the 2025 financial year, increasing the initial proposal by N700 billion from N54.2 trillion.
The lower legislative chamber passed the budget bill on Thursday after Abubakar Bichi, the chairman of the committee on appropriation, presented report.
The appropriation bill was also passed by the senate.
The budget breakdown includes: N3.6 trillion for statutory transfers, N14.3 trillion for debt service, N13.6 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and N23.9 trillion for capital expenditure.
President Bola Tinubu had earlier written to the National Assembly, requesting an increase in the initial budget proposal from N49.7 trillion to N54.2 trillion.
He said the review was due to additional revenue generated by key government agencies.
The budget approval followed the presentation of reports by the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations during plenary on Thursday.
Presenting the report, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun), and his House counterpart, Abubakar Bichi (APC, Kano), said: “The House receives the report of the Committee on Appropriations for the Bill of an Act to authorize the issuance of the total sum of N54.9 trillion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
“This includes N3.6 trillion for statutory transfers, N14.3 trillion for debt service, N13.6 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and N23.9 trillion for the Development Fund for capital expenditure for the year ending December 31, 2025.”.
The green chamber also asked the president to submit the budget for the next fiscal year three months before the end of the year.
Last year, both chambers had approved the 2025-2027 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) and fiscal strategy paper (FSP) — parameters on which budgets are framed.
The parliament passed the oil benchmark prices of $75, $76.2, and $75.3 for the daily crude oil production of 2.06 million, 2.10 million, and 2.35 million for the 2025-2027 fiscal years respectively.
It maintained the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate projected at 4.6 percent, 4.4 percent, and 5.5 percent for the three years in the fiscal strategy paper.
The lawmakers also endorsed the projected exchange rate of N1,400/$ — but said it is subject to review in early 2025 according to monetary and fiscal policies.
