President Bola Tinubu officially ratified the 2024 Appropriation Bill during a ceremony at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday afternoon. 

The N28.7tn budget, which received prior approval from the National Assembly, was signed by Tinubu upon his return from a week-long holiday in Lagos.

This budget represents an increase of N1.2tn compared to the initial proposal presented by the President to the National Assembly on November 29, 2023. At that time, Tinubu had outlined a budget deficit of N9.18tn for the fiscal year 2024.

Tinubu highlighted that the approved deficit is lower than the N13.78tn recorded in 2023, amounting to 6.11% of the GDP. 

The deficit will be covered by new borrowings totaling N7.83tn, N298.49BN from Privatisation Proceeds, and N1.05tn from drawdowns on multilateral and bilateral loans earmarked for specific development projects.

Emphasizing the importance of adhering to the January-December implementation cycle, Tinubu stated, “Our goal is to ensure that the Appropriation Act comes into effect on January 1, 2024.”

Notably, on December 29, 2023, the Senate increased the 2024 budget by N1.2tn, resulting in a final budget figure of N28.7tn. 

The Appropriation Committee, led by Senator Solomon Adeola, specified the breakdown of the budget, with aggregate expenditure at N28,777,404,073,861; statutory transfers at N1,742,786,788,150; recurrent expenditure at N8,768,5330,852; capital expenditure at N9,995,143,298,028; and GDP growth projected at 3.88%.