The Senate has urged the government’s revenue-generating agencies to exert even greater pressure ahead of the adoption of the N27.5 trillion 2024 Appropriations Bill in order to raise the necessary monies to finance the 2024 budget.
Speaking yesterday at a one-day retreat on the 2024 budget hosted by the Senate Committee on Appropriations for Ministries, Departments, Agencies, MDAs, stakeholders, and others, Senator Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West) threatened to withhold zero funding for MDAs who do not show up to defend their budgets.
Meanwhile, in his remarks, yesterday at the retreat, Minister of Finance and Coordinator of the Economy, Wale Edun warned that because of the shock in global economy, the fiscal space in Nigeria has become exhausted, saying that the way out was for the country to look in the direction of the cheap and concessionary source of financing, especially in the area of climate financing, reduce burden on debt service and borrowings.
Edun said: “Nigeria’s fiscal space is exhausted, we have to focus on the concessional funding, the cheaper funding, even free funding and climate financing is the way.
“Solution is that we have to focus on concessional funding, the cheaper funding, even free funding, and climate financing is the way.
“Edun who highlighted the urgency of addressing the fiscal constraints and reducing dependence on borrowing particularly foreign borrowing, pointed out that with an estimated $1 trillion annually to be spent on climate change, emphasised the significance of climate financing in funding the N27.5 trillion budget.
He said: “Just yesterday, UAE announced a $30 billion for climate action. What that means is that as we look to fund the N27.5 trillion budget this year, our first port of call must be the cheapest and the most concessionary finacing including climate financing.
“We have to be brave, courageous, innovative to make sure that we use the financial market to take the stress down, to reduce our debt servicing, to reduce our emphasis on borrowing,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said the lawmakers woulld not tolerate lackadaisical attitudes from government functionaries in MDAs, in relation to their defence submissions.
Akpabio, represented by Deputy President of Senate, Barau Jibril, said the consequences of sabotaging the envisaged passage of the 2024 budget by any top official of any MDA would not be palatable for the official or agency in the eventual passage of the bill.
