Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is launching an ambitious plan to expand the West African nation’s economy and end its security with record public spending over the upcoming fiscal year.
The proposed record spending of 20. 5 trillion naira ($47. 3 billion) “reflects the serious challenges” facing Nigeria and “the key reforms needed to address them,” Buhari told lawmakers at the budget presentation in the capital, Abuja, on Friday.
The budget expected to be approved and enter into force in January 2023 is 19% higher than this year’s public spending and is also that of Nigeria, prioritizing fiscal sustainability, economic expansion and security.
While Nigeria continues to struggle with violent extremism in the northeast and armed attacks in the northwest and central regions, with thousands of lives lost last year, Buhari has allocated the maximum budget to defense and internal security.
At least 5. 3 trillion naira ($12. 2 billion), or 26 percent of the proposed budget, will be spent on capital expenditures as part of an ambitious plan the national government relies on to build key infrastructure and create jobs in Africa’s largest economy, where for many years poor governance and corruption have stifled development.
“The budget for 2023 is ready in a very complicated global economy that is weakening due to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, peak inflation, peak charges for crude oil resulting in a massive charge (of a gas subsidy), and the negative consequences of the Russo-Ukraine War,” Buhari said, who will step down as president next year after February’s general election.
With economic expansion projected at 3. 7 percent and 16. 87 trillion naira ($38. 9 billion) in expected federal government profits in 2023, Buhari said Nigeria aims for “higher, more inclusive, diversified and sustainable expansion” with the proposed budget.
External lending for the 8. 8 trillion naira ($20. 3 billion) song would finance the budget deficit, Buhari said, amid considerations over the country’s top public debt of 41 trillion naira ($96. 7 billion) in March. The country also lost oil costs with limited crude production attributed to oil theft.
“I guarantee you that insecurity, especially banditry and kidnappings, will be particularly reduced before this administration ends. We will redouble our efforts to ensure we leave the legacy of a peaceful, filthy rich and secure nation,” he said. He added that the “significant challenges” facing Nigeria “would have been much worse” without government interventions.
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