Federal government has pegged Nigeria’s budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year at N9.18 trillion.

Speaking on Wednesday during the presentation of the proposed N27 trillion 2024 budget at the national assembly, President Bola Tinubu said the deficit represents 3.88 percent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The president said the N9.18 trillion deficit is lower than the “N13.78 trillion naira deficit recorded in 2023 which represents 6.11 percent of GDP”.

“The deficit will be financed by new borrowings totalling 7.83 trillion naira, 298.49 billion naira from Privatization Proceeds and 1.05 trillion naira drawdown on multilateral and bilateral loans secured for specific development projects,” he said.

Tinubu said the government also projected that inflation will moderate to 21.4 percent in 2024, noting that the country is currently reviewing its tax and fiscal policies.

“Our target is to increase the ratio of revenue to GDP from less than 10 percent currently to 18 percent within the term of this administration,” he said. 

The president said the country is also exploring public-private partnership arrangements to finance critical infrastructure.

He, therefore, invited the private sector to partner “with us to ensure that our fiscal, trade and monetary policies, as well as our developmental programs and projects succeed in unlocking the latent potential of our people and other natural endowments, in line with our national aspirations”.

“To improve the effectiveness of our budget performance, the government will focus on ensuring value for money, greater transparency, and accountability. In this regard, we will work more closely with development partners and the private sector,” he said.

“To address long-standing issues in the education sector, a more sustainable model of funding tertiary education will be implemented, including the student loan scheme scheduled to become operational by January 2024.”

In addition, Tinubu promised that efforts would be made to further contain financial leakages through the effective implementation of key public financial management reforms.

He said the top priorities of the ‘2024 Budget of Renewed Hope’, include national defence and internal security, local job creation and macroeconomic stability.

The president also said the proposed budget prioritises human capital development, with particular attention given to children “because human capital remains the most critical resource for national development”.

The Cable