The Senate and the House of Representatives will on Thursday (today) pass the revised 2022 fiscal framework of the Federal Government.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, made this known after the report of the Committee on Finance was stepped down today for consideration at the plenary on Wednesday.
The Majority Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, who moved a motion for the report to be stepped down, said the consideration should be deferred to Thursday to allow lawmakers make their inputs.
The House is also expected to pass the 2022 budget of the Nigeria Customs Service the same day, as the National Assembly goes on break for Easter and Ramadan.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had written to the Senate and the House to say that the deficit in the 2022 Appropriation Act has risen by N965.42bn, to N7.35tn, adding that the Federal Government will borrow funds to fill the gap.
Buhari, therefore, called for the amendment of the Federal Government’s budget and the fiscal framework for 2022.
The President said the adjustments to the 2022 Fiscal Framework include an increase in the project oil price benchmark by $11 per barrel, from $62 per barrel to $73 per barrel; a reduction in the projected oil production volume by 283,000 barrels per day, from 1.883 million barrels per day to 1.600 million barrels per day; an increase in the estimated provision for PMS subsidy for 2022 by N442.72bn, from N3.557tn to N4tn.
Other adjustments include a cut in the provision for federally funded upstream projects being implemented by N200bn from N352.80bn to N152.80bn; an increase in the projection for Federal Government independent revenue by N400bn; and an additional provision of N182.45bn to carter for the needs of the Nigeria Police Force.
The letter partly read, “Based on the above adjustments, the Federation Account (Main Pool) revenue for the three tiers of government is projected to decline by N2.418tn, while FGN‘s share from the Account (net of transfer to the Federal Capital Territory and other statutory deductions) is projected to reduce by N1.173tn.
“However, the amount available to fund the FGN Budget is projected to decline by N772.91bn due to the increase in the projection for independent revenue (Operating Surplus Remittance) by N400bn.
“Aggregate expenditure is projected to increase by N192.52bn, due to increase in personnel cost by N161.40bn and other service wide votes by N21.05bn (both for the Nigeria Police Force), additional domestic debt service provision of N76.13bn, and net reductions in Statutory Transfers by N66.07bn.”
Buhari listed statutory transfers’ adjustments as follows: NDDC by N13.46bn, from N102.78bn to N89.32bn; NEDC by N6.30bn, from N48.08bn to N41.78bn; UBEC by N23.16bn, from N112.29bn to N89.13bn; Basic Health Care Fund by N11.58bn, from N56.14bn to N44.56bn; and NASENI by N11.58bn, from N56.14bn to N44.56bn.
He said, “Total budget deficit is projected to increase by N965.42bn to N7.35tn, representing 3.99 per cent of GDP. The incremental deficit will be financed by new borrowings from the domestic market.
The House Committee on Finance had laid its report on the presidential request on Tuesday. While it was listed for consideration on Wednesday, it was deferred to Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Senate has approved a budget with estimates totalling N369.04bn for the Nigeria Customs Service for the 2022 fiscal year, with a revenue target of N3,019,133,200,308.00 set for the Service.
