By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government intends to generate N10.7 trillion as revenue in the 2022 fiscal year, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has disclosed.
Speaking during the public presentation and breakdown of the 2022 Appropriation Bill in Abuja, the Minister said this revenue target would be 32.1 per cent higher than the N8.1 trillion projected in 2021.
Debt servicing, according to the bill, is expected to gulp N3.6 trillion.
She further explained that the 2022 budget has a deficit of N6.3 trillion and will be financed from domestic, foreign, multi-lateral loans and proceed from privatisation.
A total of N2.5 trillion is expected from domestic sources and N2.5 trillion from foreign sources, with N1.1 trillion from bilateral loans and N90 billion from privatisation proceeds.
President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the 2022 Appropriation Bill of N17.126 trillion into law on Friday, December 31.
He highlighted some of the worrisome changes to the budget to include an increase in projected federal government independent revenue by N400 billion, reduction in the provision for Sinking Fund to Retire Maturing Bonds by N22 billion, and reduction of the provisions for the Non-Regular Allowances of the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Navy by N15 billion and N5 billion respectively; all without any explanation.
He also expressed his reservations on the inclusion of new provisions totalling N36.59 billion for National Assembly’s projects in the Service Wide Vote, which he said negated the principles of separation of powers and financial autonomy of the legislative arm of government.
The President was also concerned about the changes to the original executive proposal in the form of new insertions, outright removals, reductions and/or increases in the amounts allocated to projects, as well as reduction of the provisions made for as many as 10,733 projects and the introduction of 6,576 new projects into the budget.
According to him, most of the projects inserted relate to matters that are basically the responsibilities of state and local governments and do not appear to have been properly conceptualised, designed, and cost.
