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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved the 2022 Appropriation Bill for an aggregate expenditure of N16.39 trillion.
This is even as the federal government has affirmed that its plan to do more borrowings to finance the N6.258 trillion deficit in the proposed 2023 budget, notwithstanding the crisis that has trailed previous borrowing.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, made this disclosure while briefing State House Correspondents, maintaining that government would continue to borrow to fund infrastructure projects.
According to her, “If we just depend on the revenues that we get, even though our revenues have increased, the operational expenditure of government, including salaries and other overheads, is barely covered or swallowed up by the revenue.
“So, we need to borrow to be able to build these projects that will ensure that we’re able to develop on a sustainable basis.
“Nigeria’s boring, has been of great concern and has elicited a lot of discussions. But if you look at the total size of the borrowing, it is still within healthy and sustainable limits. As at July 2021, the total borrowing is 23% of GDP”
Details later…
