As Nigeria’s debt profile reaches $102 billion in 2023, the Federal Government claims that N3.36 trillion has been set aside for petrol subsidies.
The 2023 budget plan has a N10.78 trillion budget deficit, according to Dr. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, who made this announcement on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to her, funding for this would come from local and international borrowing as well as earnings from privatization.
The Minister also said the 2023 budget also factored in 17.16% inflation.
The Minister said the current public debt is at 23% of the country’s gross domestic product.
She explained that 2.74 trillion naira is allocated to defense and security, N998.9billion is allocated to infrastructure, and N756billion is allocated to social development and poverty reduction.
Dr Zainab Ahmed noted that the draft 2023 budget was prepared in the context of international challenges such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic, and she added that revenue generation has been a major challenge to the country’s national development.
In terms of critical sector allocations, she stated that 2.05 trillion naira is set aside for education and 1.58 trillion naira for health.