‘2024 Budget Fiscal Assumptions Unrealistic, Ambitious’

Civil Society Leaders’ Forum on Social Protection have said the parameters or fiscal assumptions for the proposed 2024 budget are unrealistic and do not reflect the current realities in the country.

Consequently, it urged the House of Representatives to mandate the planning ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to review the assumptions especially, the exchange, inflation and economic growth rates.

The forum stated these at the Citizens‘ Townhall on the 2024 Budget and Appropriation Process organised by the House Committee on Appropriations and Programme Coordinating Unit of the Speaker in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), held in Abuja on Monday.

In a submission to the Appropriation Committee, the Forum‘s Convener, Dr Otive Igbuzor said the inflation rate projected at 21.40% for 2024 was against the 27.33% published on the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) website.

Represented by the executive director, Centre for Transparency Advocacy, Faith Nwadishi, Igbuzor said while the economic growth rate is projected at 3.76 for 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently downgraded Nigeria‘s economic growth forecast for the year 2023 to 2.9 percent.

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He said, „The projected economic growth rate is overambitious looking at the economic realities. Therefore, these critical indicators should be reviewed to be more realistic.

“The domestic loans through Ways and Means (Advances to Government) should be 5% of the previous years’ actual revenues as stipulated in section 38 (2) CBN Act 2007.

“The figure projected for domestic loans for 2024 doesn’t adhere to the CBN Act 2007. Thus, the House should urgently review the projected figure and ensure strict compliance with the CBN act 2007.”

Igbuzor also said the total revenue projected for the 2024 budget is too ambitious despite the anticipated savings from subsidy removal and the ongoing tax reforms, hence it is not achievable due to current economic instability and insecurity in the country affecting economic activities.