The President highlighted some of the top priorities of the 2024 Budget of #RenewedHope. They are:
– National Defence & Internal Security
– Local Job Creation
– Macro-economic Stability
– Investment Environment
– Optimization
– Human Capital Development
– Poverty Reduction
– Social Security
Keynotes from the President’s speech:
– Primary objective of the 2024 Budget is to sustain Nigeria’s robust foundation for sustainable economic development.
– Nigeria’s internal security architecture will be overhauled to enhance law enforcement capabilities with a view to safeguarding lives, property, and investments across the country.
– Human capital development will be prioritized, and with particular attention given to children.
– FG will work more closely with development partners & the private sector to ensure value for money, greater transparency, and accountability for improvement in the effectiveness of Nigeria’s budget performance.
– A more sustainable model of funding tertiary education will be implemented, including the Student Loan Scheme scheduled to become operational by January 2024 to address long-standing issues in the education sector.
– FG will continue to implement business & investment friendly measures for a stable macro-economic environment for sustainable growth.
– Economy to grow by a minimum of 3.76%, above the forecasted world average. Inflation expected to moderate to 21.4% in 2024.
– Provisions to leverage private capital for big-ticket infrastructure projects in energy, transportation, and other sectors have been strategically put in place.
– Positioning of Nigeria as a regional leader in the global movement towards clean and sustainable energy is one of the major focus in 2024.
– To attract international partnerships and investments that align with Nigeira’s national goals, relevant government agencies have been directed to diligently work towards securing substantial funding commitments that will bolster Nigeria’s energy transition.
– $77.96 per barrel and a daily oil production estimate of 1.78 million barrels per day were adopted after a careful review of global oil market trends, and that a Naira to $ exchange rate of N750 per $ was adopted.
– The budget deficit is projected at N9.18 trillion in 2024 or 3.88% of GDP. This is lower than the 13.78 trillion naira deficit recorded in 2023, which represented 6.11% of GDP.
– Deficit will be financed by new borrowings totalling N7.83 trillion, N298.49 billionn from Privatization Proceeds, and 1.05 trillion naira draw down on multilateral and bilateral loans secured for specific development projects.
– There is ongoing review of Social Investment Programmes to enhance their implementation and effectiveness.
– The National Social Safety Net project will be expanded to provide targeted cash transfers to poor and vulnerable households.
– Efforts to further contain financial leakages through the effective implementation of key public financial management reforms will be made.
– Only projects and programs that are in line with the sectoral mandates of MDAs and those which are capable of realizing the vision of #RenewedHope will be included in the budget.