The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion, an increase of over N1.5 trillion from what was previously estimated.

The budget will be presented to the joint session of the National Assembly (NASS) on Wednesday by President Bola Tinubu.

A memo dated November 27, 2023, and signed by NASS’s Secretary of Human Resources and Staff Development, Shuaibu Maina Birma, on behalf of the Clerk to the National Assembly confirmed the Wednesday presentation.

“I am directed to inform you that the 2024 Budget would be presented by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the Joint Session of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Wednesday, 29th November, 2023,” the memo stated.

The new budget figure and parameters followed the review of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework earlier passed by the National Assembly which benchmarked the exchange rate at N700 to $1 and crude oil price at $73.96 cent per barrel.

Shortly after the FEC meeting at the Presidential Villa, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, explained that FEC revised the MTEF and the Fiscal Policy to use an exchange rate of N750 to $1 and also a benchmark crude oil reference price of $77.96 per barrel.

He said that using the old reference prices, the forecast revenue is now N18.2 trillion which is higher than the 2023 revenue, including that provided in the two supplementary budgets, in which the deficit is lower than that of 2023.

The budget, according to Aso Rock insiders has made generous provision for infrastructure and debt servicing.