Nigeria plans to narrow its budget deficit to roughly 3.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) next year from about 6.1% this year.
President Bola Tinubu disclosed this on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, to boost his economic reforms.
He has embarked on Nigeria’s boldest reforms in decades, after his May 29 inauguration, as he tries to balance efforts to cushion the impact of double-digit inflation and the removal of a fuel subsidy in May with keeping spending in check.
ALSO READ: Nigeria: FEC approves $1 billion African Development Bank loan
Timubu delivered his first budget speech to lawmakers, on Wednesday, with a projection that a higher oil production and tax collection would boost government revenues and his administration would borrow slightly less next year.
The budget Nigeria presented on Wednesday forecast 27.5 trillion naira ($34.85 billion) of expenditure in 2024, with spending priorities including security, infrastructure and measures to ease a cost-of-living crisis.
In his speech, President Tinubu also said the economy was expected to grow by at least 3.76% next year while inflation would moderate to 21.4%.
