President Bola Tinubu has requested the national assembly to increase the 2024 appropriation act by N6.2 trillion.
The request, contained in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on the Senate floor Wednesday, raises the 2024 budget from the initial N28.7 trillion, signed into law on January 1, to N34.9 trillion.
Tinubu is seeking the amendment to allocate N3.2 trillion for infrastructure projects and N3 trillion for recurrent expenditure.
“Pursuant to section 58 (2) of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended, I forward herewith the above named bills for consideration and passage by the senate,” Tinubu said.
“The appropriation act amendment bill seeks to amend the principal act to provide the sum of N3,200,000,000,000 for Renewed Hope Infrastructure Projects and other critical infrastructure projects to be undertaken across the country and the sum of N3,000,000,000,000 to meet further recurrent expenditure requirements necessary for the proper operation of the federal government.
“They shall be funded by accruing to the federal government of Nigeria.”
Also, Tinubu asked the national assembly to amend the Finance Act of 2023 to tax windfalls obtained by banks from “foreign exchange gains.”
“Furthermore, the proposed amendments to the Finance Acts 2023 are required to a one-time windfall tax on the foreign exchange gains realised by banks in their 2023 financial statements to fund capital infrastructure development, education, and healthcare as well as welfare initiatives all which are components of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” he said.
On September 12, 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed banks to stop using gains from the revaluation of the naira to pay dividends or finance operations.
The financial regulator noted that a review of the foreign exchange (FX) regime change showed banks are in a position to profit from the policy due to its potential to significantly increase the naira value of banks’ foreign currency (FCY) assets and liabilities.
In June 2023, the CBN officially unified the multiple FX rate systems, collapsing all FX windows into the investors’ and exporters’ (I&E) window. The policy resulted in the depreciation of the local currency, causing considerable volatility in the FX market.
