The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the 2024 appropriation bill of N27.50 trillion for the 2024 budget, with a N1.5 trillion increase from the earlier estimated bill.

The government had proposed N26.2 trillion earlier but had reviewed the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) that was approved by the National Assembly.

Minister of budget and national planning, Sen. Atiku Bagudu, announced this on Monday at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

He said that the new proposal was legitimate because the appropriation was dependent on the final process that could be changed due to many variables, including new priorities and MDAs presentations.

Mr Bagudu said that MTEF, which was approved by the National Assembly, puts the exchange rate at N700 per dollar and an oil price benchmark of 73.96 dollars.

He added that FEC revised the MTEF to use an exchange rate of N750 to a dollar and oil price benchmark of N77.96 in order to further fund the eight priority areas of the administration.

Mr Bagudu said that the president would give more breakdown of the budget during its presentation to the National Assembly, stressing that the presentation date would be decided by the National Assembly.

The minister said that the 2024 forecast revenue would now be N18.32 trillion higher than the 2023 budget and the supplementary budget provisions.

The minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Wale Edun, said that the federal government has secured funds from the African Development Bank for budget support.

He said that the one billion dollar funds would aid the effective implementation of the government reform policies as well as ensure transparency and accountability in the various tax reforms.

Mr Edun added that it would be used in areas such as power and ensuring the efficient utilisation of tax revenues, adding that it was not for project funding.

(NAN)