Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu has expressed optimism that the Nigerian government would realise its N36.35 trillion revenue projection in the 2025 Appropriation Bill.
Bagudu said revenue agencies must become more responsive to the country’s financial needs and “accountable so that revenues are adequately accounted for, as well as expenditures are justified.”
Bagudu’s comments came as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released the meeting calendar for its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) this year.
The committee, which will meet five times this year, will convene its first meeting February 17-18, according to the calendar.
The MPC is the highest policy-making body of the central bank.
The second meeting is expected to hold May 19-20, and the third July 21-22.
The fourth meeting will hold September 22-23, while MPC’s last meeting for the year will take place between November 24 and 25.
MPC makes decisions about monetary policy and reviews economic and financial conditions, determines policy stances, and communicates policy decisions to the public.
Its resolutions are geared towards ensuring that the apex bank achieves its primary mandate of price stability.
Speaking at the National Assembly Joint Committees on Finance hearing on the 2025 Appropriation Bill, Bagudu stated that “President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms had started to bear fruit.”
Bagudu said; “the combined effects of removing fuel and Foreign Exchange (FX) subsidies boosted revenue at the three levels of government since October 2024.”
He stressed that the current administration expected an upward revenue trajectory, with the savings from fuel subsidy removal and forex deregulation.
The Minister explained that President Tinubu had also directed all revenue-generating Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), as well as Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs) to ramp up their operations to bring more money to the government’s purse.
He said with the government’s determination to ramp up oil production at a reduced cost, additional revenue will accrue to the treasury.
He explained that despite a N13.08 trillion deficit, the federal government remained confident that it would generate the revenue to fund the budget.
Bagudu said that “the administration would leverage its experience with the 2024 budget to achieve its 2025 target.”
He said, “The 2024 budget is this administration’s first full-year budget, and lessons learned from 2024 have formed the basis of the assumptions in 2025.
“The principal among those assumptions and lessons was the removal of the fuel subsidy and its effect on revenue and expenditure, the removal or deregulation of the foreign exchange market and its impact on both government revenue and spending, and other price-distorting issues, such as electricity, which has not been fully dealt with.
“All the major, bold, and courageous steps taken with the support of the National Assembly are intended to generate more revenues for the three tiers of government, correct distortions in the economy, and improve expenditure efficiency so that we can ensure that the revenue generated goes a long way.”
Following the National Assembly’s approval of the 2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, President Tinubu presented the 2025 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly in December last year, proposing an expenditure of N49.74 trillion.
The bill assumed 2.06 billion barrels per day production at $75, N1,500/$ exchange rate, 15.75 per cent inflation, and 4.6 per cent GDP rate.
The Minister said 2024 was characterised by different revenue profiles, explaining that only in October did the full effect of removing fuel subsidies begin to show up in the federation account revenue.
Bagudu assured the lawmakers that despite the hangover effects of the subsidy regime, the administration had learnt valuable lessons from implementing the 2024 budget that made it confident that it would achieve its 2025 revenue projection.
He said, “Because we have seen all the elements and learned many lessons, with the support of the National Assembly, the Budget Office was able to guide and rely on the best estimates, allowing us to make revenue assumptions based on 2.06 million barrels per day.
“The Minister of State Petroleum and the Federal Executive Council even said they hope we can do more. And Mr. President appreciates the security efforts and the fact that we have to challenge the management of institutions to do better, as well as the reduction of importation. These are all things that significantly affect the revenue profile.”
The Minister said following the National Assembly’s charge in 2024, the GOEs should shore up their revenues, and the president directed the enterprises to brace up for better performance in 2025.
“It was for all those reasons that our budget for 2025 made the revenue assumption of 36.35 trillion, as well as expenditure projection of 49.74,” Bagudu said.
He said, “We believe that the measures taken with the combined effect of the world reforms will generate more monthly revenue.”
Bagudu thanked the National Assembly for working seamlessly with the executive, assuring them that Tinubu does not take their cooperation for granted.
According to him, “The ability of the institutions, revenue institutions, to be responsive to the demand of the country, to be mindful of the courageous, bold, and even risky measures that this government, supported by the National Assembly, is taking, and demand on all to be accountable so that revenues are adequately accounted for, as well as expenditures are justified.”
“We believe, with that kind of approach and the support of the National Assembly and the directive by Mr. President, that all government agencies must cooperate fully with the National Assembly, the ambitious projections are achievable, and I commend you for calling us, ”Bagudu said
Chairmen of the Joint Committees, Senator Mohammed Musa and Hon. James Faleke, commended Bagudu for his candid presentation and expressed hope that all the MDAs would cooperate with the committee in performing its assignment.
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