The Federal Government has explained how it will navigate the balance of the N20.51 trillion Budget on total revenue of N9.73 trillion in 2023.
The government hinted that it may borrow more than the current estimate of N10.78 trillion in 2023.
Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, spoke at the public presentation of the breakdown and highlights of the 2023 budget proposal.
She said the overall budget deficit of N10.78 trillion for 2023 will largely be financed through domestic loans.
She said that the budget deficit will be financed mainly by borrowings including domestic sources, N7.04 trillion; foreign sources, N1.76 trillion; multilateral and bi-lateral loan drawdowns, N1.77 billion and expected N206.18 billion proceeds from the privatization of national assets.
“There is a continuing need to exceed this threshold considering the existential security challenges facing the country,” Ahmed said.
The minister said Nigeria has no plan to restructure its debt as the government remains committed to meeting its domestic and external debt obligations.
According to her, the government will continue to utilize appropriate debt management tools to streamline the cost and risk profile in the debt portfolio, including through concessional loans, spreading out of debt maturities to avoid bunching, and re-profiling of the debt maturities by refinancing short-term debt using long-term debt instruments.
