President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared that the 2025 budget estimates were meant to restore and consolidate on key policies embarked upon since the advent of his administration 18 months ago.
He stated this on Wednesday when he presented the budget to the joint sitting of the National Assembly.
He said the key policies instituted by his government were meant to restructure the economy, boost human capital development, increase the volume of trade and investments, bolster oil and gas production, “get the manufacturing sector humming again and ultimately increase the competitiveness of our economy.”
“It is not a journey of our choosing but one we had to embark on for Nigeria to have a real chance at greatness. I thank every Nigerian for embarking on this journey of REFORMS and TRANSFORMATION with us.
“The road of reforms is now clearly upon us, and as the President of this blessed nation, I know this less-travelled road has not been easy; that there have been difficulties and sacrifices. They will not be in vain. And we must keep faith with the process to arrive at our collectively desired destination.
“We must build on the progress we have made in the past 18 months in restructuring our economy and ensuring it is strong enough to withstand the headwinds of any future shocks of the global downturn.”
In giving highlights of the budget, the president allocated N15.81 trillion to debt servicing while Defence and security tops the sectoral allocations in the N47.9 trillion budget.
Tinubu said Defence/Security was allocated N4.91 trillion; Infrastructure was allocated N4.06 trillion; Health N2.4 trillion health while Education gets N3.5 trillion.
The budget proposal, according to the president, has a N34.8trn revenue projection adding that out of the proposed N47.90 trillion, N15.81 trillion is for debt service with a N13.0 trillion deficit.
He further noted that inflation was projected to go down from 34.3% to 15% while the Exchange Rate was brought down from 1700/$ to N1400/$.
President Tinubu assured Nigerians that their sacrifices won’t be in vain, saying the gains of his economic reforms will begin to manifest soon.
The President who acknowledged that the past 18 months of his administration’s reforms had been challenging, urged Nigerians to be patient.
He said, “The journey of economic renewal and institutional development, which we began 18 months ago as a nation, is very much underway.
