Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has ruled out the possibility of the federal government financing any capital project in 2023 fiscal year, going by growing budget deficit.
She made this known while speaking during the presentation of the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance put the aggregate expenditure of the government for 2023 at N19.76 trillion on Monday.
She also revealed that budget deficit for the 2023 fiscal year may run between N11.30 trillion to N12.41 trillion depending on the choice that will be made by the government on the issue of subsidy payment on premium motor spirit otherwise known as petrol.
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She hinged her projection on crude oil production challenges and PMS subsidy deductions by the NNPC, saying that those constitute significant threats to the achievement of the nation’s revenue growth targets.
She explained that decisive and urgent actions are required to address revenue under performances and expenditure efficiency at national and sub national levels.
“In this scenario, the budget deficit is projected to be N11.30 trillion in 2023, up from N7.35 trillion in 2022. This represents 5.01 percent of the estimated GDP, above the 3 percent threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.”
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