Senate Passes MTEF/FSP, Okays Buhari’s N4.89trn Borrowing Plan

The Senate on Wednesday passed the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure and Fiscal Strategy Paper, retaining all the assumptions and projections submitted to it by president Muhammadu Buhari in July.

The red chamber retained the exchange rate of N410.15 per dollar proposed by the executive and also approved the projected Gross Domestic Product growth rate of 4.20 per cent.

The Senate retained the projected inflation rate of 13 per cent fiscal deficit estimate of N5.62tn.

Buhari’s projected new borrowing of N4.89tn (including foreign and domestic borrowing) was also retained and approved.

Also, the $3.5bn International Monetary Fund loan at the rate of 0.01 per cent to 0.02 per cent proposed by the President was also approved to shore up the internal borrowing and to reduce external borrowing because of the exchange rate risks.

The Senate retained the Federal Government’s 2022 revenue projection of N8.36tn; and expenditure of N13.98tn.

Others parameters contained in the MTEF/FSP submitted by the president and retained by the red chamber are Statutory transfers (N613.4bn; Debt Service (N3.12tn);

Sinking Fund (N292); Pension, Gratuities and Retirees Benefits of N567bn; and Aggregate Expenditure of N13.98tn.

The aggregate expenditure is made up of total recurrent (non-debt) of N6.21tn; and personnel costs (MDAs) of N3.47tn.

Others are capital expenditure (exclusive of transfers) N3.26tn; special intervention (recurrent) amounting to N350bn; and special intervention (capital) of N10bn.