President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to make the 2024 budget bigger. He wants to add N6.2 trillion more. So, the budget would go from N28.7 trillion to N34.9 trillion.
On Wednesday, Senate President Godswill Akpabio read Tinubu’s letter to the Senate.
In the letter, Tinubu said he wants to spend N3.2 trillion on building roads and other important things. He also wants N3 trillion for everyday expenses.
“Following section 58 (2) of our national laws, I am sending these bills for the Senate to check and approve. The change in the budget is to provide N3.2 trillion for important building projects and N3 trillion for everyday running of the government. The money will come from the Nigerian government’s funds,” Tinubu wrote.
Changes to the Finance Act
President Tinubu also wants the National Assembly to change the Finance Act in 2023. He especially wants to look at extra money banks make from changes in foreign exchange rates.
He believes that banks should pay fair taxes on this extra money. This would help fund many things like building projects, schools, healthcare, and helping the public.
“The changes to the Finance Act in 2023 should include a one-time tax on banks’ extra gains from foreign exchange changes. This money will be used to build important projects, improve education and healthcare, and support public welfare. These are all parts of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” Tinubu explained.
Top Nigerian banks made a lot of money in 2023. From foreign exchange rate changes, they gained N3.3 trillion. Data from Nairalytics shows that in 2023, the top 7 banks earned N2.48 trillion. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, they made around N882.9 billion.
What you should know
In January 2024, the National Assembly approved the 2024 budget. They made it bigger, increasing it from the originally proposed N27.5 trillion by President Tinubu to N28.7 trillion.
They added N1.2 trillion more to the budget.
The approved budget includes N1.74 trillion for mandatory transfers. It has N8.27 trillion for paying debts, N8.76 trillion for daily expenses, and N9.99 trillion for building and other projects.
The Senate said they made some changes to fit in more funding requests from the Executive. This includes adjustments for exchange rate differences, more revenue from government-owned businesses, reduction in payments for government workers, and changes in service-wide votes for wage adjustments.