The N11.03 deficit proposed for the N19.76 trillion 2023 budget may have unsettled the two chambers of the National Assembly, as they gear up to tackle the issue through required amendments of relevant provisions of the Finance Act.
Amendment of the Finance Act by the National Assembly as disclosed by Chairman, Senate Committee on Services, Sani Musa, would dwell on areas of making the various revenue generating agencies to double or triple targets earlier given them towards reducing the size of proposed budget deficit.
It was learnt that the lawmakers may tinker with the country’s tax, customs and other laws to finance the deficit.
Musa made the discourse while speaking with newsmen in Abuja over the weekend.
“The Senate had, through its Committee on Finance at an interactive session with the Minister of Finance , Budget and National Planning , Mrs Zainab Ahmed on 2023-2025 MTEF and FSP, decried the proposed deficit as proposed in the N19.76 trillion 2023 budget”.
Chairman Senate Committee on Finance, Solomon Adeola, had told heads of revenue generating agencies to evolve other sources of revenue generation to reduce borrowing and ultimately the deficit in the nation’s budget.
Musa, however, said there was an urgent need to look into other areas beyond crude oil, to generate revenue to fund the budget and ultimately reduce the deficit in the budgetary provision.
“The budget of this country has been in deficit and the only thing we can do is to amend so many things in the Finance Act”.
He said this would enable the generation of more revenues from other sources rather than depending on oil alone and by extension, reduce the size of proposed budget deficit.
