2023 budget: N/Assembly mulls Finance Act amendment over N11trn deficit

Chairman, Senate Committee on General Services, Sani Musa, says the N11.03trn deficit proposed for the N19.76trn 2023 budget will be addressed by the National Assembly through a required amendment to the Finance Act.  He disclosed this to reporters after inspecting the makeshift chamber at the Senate in view of the ongoing renovation of the chamber. […]

Chairman, Senate Committee on General Services, Sani Musa, says the N11.03trn deficit proposed for the N19.76trn 2023 budget will be addressed by the National Assembly through a required amendment to the Finance Act.

 He disclosed this to reporters after inspecting the makeshift chamber at the Senate in view of the ongoing renovation of the chamber.

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 He said the amendment would focus on making the revenue-generating agencies to double or triple targets earlier given them towards reducing the size of proposed budget deficit.

 He said: “The budgets of this country have been in deficit and the only thing we can do is to amend so many things in the Finance Act so that we can generate more revenues from other sources rather than depend on oil alone and by extension, reduce the size of proposed budget deficit.”

“By now the temporary chambers should have been ready knowing that we are resuming. We’re supposed to resume on the 20th of this month, but there are some little things that need to be done before then.

 “But I can assure the general public that this will be done in the shortest time and we’re going to resume to receive Mr President and to present the 2023 budget.

 “You’d recall that the 9th Senate has done very well, because this edifice  since it was built has never been  rehabilitated, we’re refurbishing it, bringing it  back to standard like any other parliament you see around the world,” he stated.