The Federal Government has unveiled plans to fund a budget deficit of ₦5.62 trillion with extra loans.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this while speaking at a media briefing after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.
Ahmed explained that the budget deficit projection for 2022 which is ₦ 5.62 trillion up from 5.60 trillion in 2021, represented 3.05 per cent of the estimated GDP, slightly above the 3 per cent threshold.
According to her, the President had been empowered by the Fiscal Responsibility Act to exceed the 3 per cent threshold if he deemed it fit in a national security crisis situation.
The deficit, she added, would be financed by foreign and domestic borrowing in the sum of ₦4.89 trillion, privatisation proceeds of ₦90.73 billion and from existing project titles of ₦635 billion.
In terms of total expenditure, Ahmed said council approved an aggregate of ₦13.98 trillion while the nation’s foreign reserves was pegged at $34.2 billion as at the end of May.
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