By Dipo Olowookere
The 2025 budget of N49.7 trillion presented to a joint session of the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday scaled the second reading at the Senate on Thursday.
The 2025 Appropriation Bill christened Restoration Budget was passed and referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriation headed by Mr Olamilekan Adeola.
This stage will allow for the committee to scrutinise the budget by inviting the different ministries, departments and agencies under the federal government to defend their spending proposals for the fiscal year.
Business Post reports that the Senate President, Mr Godswill Akpabio, who presided over the plenary today, directed the committee to report back to the Senate within four weeks and then adjourned the plenary till January 14.
During debates on the 2025 Appropriation Bill on Thursday at the upper chamber of the parliament, the Deputy Senate President, Mr Barau Jibrin, expressed optimism on the budget, saying it would boost investor confidence, especially because of the attention given to insecurity.
“We all know the problems we are facing in terms of insecurity. Now, the government has taken steps to deal with it frontally. This is why defence and security got the highest allocation of N4.91 trillion. It shows the readiness of the government to deal with the problem of insecurity once and for all.
“What do you need after tackling insecurity? For a country that creates that environment of peace, what goes next is, of course, making a developing environment for the economy to thrive and for business – the private sector to thrive,” he stated.
On his part, the Senate Leader, Mr Opeyemi Bamidele, said, “The 2025 budget has seen a significant increase of 74.18 per cent, reaching N47.9 trillion in nominal terms, signalling a bold fiscal strategy aimed at addressing persistent infrastructure gaps and development challenges.
“However, in dollar terms, the budget contracted by 23.22 per cent, dropping from $36.7 billion in 2024 to $28.18 billion in 2025. This reduction in real value limits the potential impact of the budget on economic growth and the population’s well-being.”
He stated that the 2025 Appropriation Bill would “consolidate the key policies instituted to restructure our economy, boost human capital development, increase the volume of trade and investments, bolster oil and gas production, get our manufacturing sector humming again, and ultimately increase the competitiveness of our economy.”
In the 2025 fiscal year, Mr Tinubu projected a revenue of N34.82 trillion, with the N13.0 trillion deficit to be financed from fresh borrowings.
Next year, the government intends to use N15.81 trillion for debt servicing, with crude oil production at 2.06 million barrels per day, an exchange rate of N1,500/$1, and an inflation rate of 15 per cent.
According to the President, “These projections are based on the following observations: (i) Reduced importation of petroleum products alongside increased export of finished petroleum products, (ii) Bumper harvests, driven by enhanced security, reducing reliance on food imports, (iii) Increased foreign exchange inflows through Foreign Portfolio Investments, and (iv) Higher crude oil output and exports, coupled with a substantial reduction in upstream oil and gas production costs.”