By Temitope Ponle

The federal government said it spent 12.87 trillion naira against the 17.126 trillion naira budgeted for 2022 as of November 30, 2022.

Ms. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, said this at the Public Presentation and Breakdown of the Approved Federal Government Budget for 2023 on Wednesday in Abuja.

Ahmed said that of the 12.87 trillion naira, 5.24 trillion naira was for debt service and 3.94 trillion naira for staff costs.

“Actual spending as of November 30 was N12.87 trillion.

“Of this amount, N5.24 billion was for debt service; 3.94 trillion naira for personnel costs, including commissions; Expenditures from statutory transfers, overhead and votes across the service totaled N1.81 trillion; and N1.88 billion was freed up for capital expenditures.”

Meanwhile, the minister said that the fiscal deficit for 2022 was estimated at 8.17 trillion naira including the supplementary budget.

He also added that as of November 30, 2022, the deficit was N6.37 trillion.

“The deficit was financed entirely by borrowing, mostly from domestic sources.”

The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Naira 21.83 trillion allocation bill for 2023 on Tuesday.

However, the National Assembly (NASS) approved the 2023 Budget on December 28, 2022 after it was presented to a joint session of NASS on October 7, 2022.

NAN concluded that the primary objective of the 2023 Appropriation Act was to maintain fiscal viability and ensure a smooth transition to an incoming administration.

The Law is also known as the “Fiscal Consolidation and Transition Budget”.

Meanwhile, the Finance Bill 2022 was also passed to strengthen the public financial management reforms of the administration.

The Act is expected to bring about key reforms in tax and other laws (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Abdulfatai Beki/Idris Abdulrahman