Women
By Maureen Chigbo
WOMEN have cause to smile as far as Budget 2024 is concerned going by the views of Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, minister of Budget and Economic Planning. Unlike in the past when little attention was paid to how the budget would benefit women, Bagudu told journalists in Lagos, on Friday, January 12, that everything about the budget is women-centric.
“I dare not miss out on women. They just don’t constitute 50 percent but 100 percent. All of us are indebted to them” as they gave birth to us, Bagudu replied while answering a question on what is in the budget for women who are more than half of the more 200 million population of Nigeria.
According to him, the budget contained priority areas all of which will benefit women because everything is about women – education, health, infrastructure. So women should be mainstreamed in everything we do. “In Agriculture, poverty alleviation, and inclusivity are measures taken to ensure everyone has a pride of place in the budget, particularly women. There are women-specific programmes that Mr. President has just approved the expansion of the World Bank poverty alleviation programme for women to 550 million dollars, which has taken place in some pilot States of the federation. Now it is being expanded and in terms of beneficiaries, more women are emphasised.
That notwithstanding, the government has budgeted 39 per cent of the budget for capital expenditure, the highest by the government in recent years, which will benefit women if the infrastructures are fixed.
In sectors where women are dominant like in Agriculture, the federal government has budgeted N100 billion and also slated N550 billion in anticipation of a negotiated wage increase which women will benefit from as they are part of the workforce, Bagudu said.
Apart from these, the budget is geared towards achieving the Agenda 2050 of the federal to grow the economy faster, which will in turn benefit women, once Budget 2024 is implemented to provide macro-economic stability and increase spending in all the priority areas.
Apart from specific programmes that will benefit women, Bagudu assured that the federal government will obey the law on ways and means borrowing.
The minister noted that the gap between this year’s borrowing and that of 2023 remained significant, adding: “In 2023, the budget anticipated a borrowing of close to N14 trillion. This year’s budget is N9.1 trillion. So, we think that is significant. “2023 took us to about 6.11 per cent of our GDP as borrowing. This one is 3.8 per cent. So, the quantum has decreased”.
Bagudu said the federal government, in the 2024 fiscal year, aims to operate strictly within the dictates of fiscal responsibility law, adding: “We will not go outside the law and borrow from ways and means, what is outside the law. So, the fiscal responsibility law says, in every one year, the Central Bank can lend the government up to 5 per cent of its budget for the year.
“So, if you go out of that, you’re going outside the lawful limit, and that’s what the minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy was very clear we are not going to do. We are not going to resort to borrowing outside the law.”
The minister said the decision to base the 2024 budget on a foreign exchange (FX) rate benchmark of N800 to a dollar was strategic and deliberate even though the federal government had proposed the 2024 budget FX rate to be based on N750 per dollar, the national assembly increased it to N800. Realnews reports that the National Assembly raise the benchmark and the executive accepted it in the spirit of democracy and the oversight functions of the legislators as those who have the final say on appropriation, the minister said.
Bagudu, however, said that before arriving at the projected Foreign exchange rate of N750 in the 2024 budget, the government reviewed and analysed the naira’s average performance, adding:
“For budgeting purposes, you don’t use the spot rate of anything. Oil price can go to $120 today, maybe there is a shortage, or maybe there is a collision between two ships that will block a channel. It would be foolish to use that as a reference price.
“I should take a period of maybe six months to one year and say let me observe this average behaviour, so you don’t use spot prices. So, even the exchange rate is like that. Much as we are hoping that it would soon come below, but at the time you are doing the budget you will take a view on average performance. And that’s what we took.”
The minister is optimistic that the steps implemented thus far will significantly improve the supply of forex into the economy, adding that the revenue predictions for 2024 are intended to expand on the government’s various attempts to create a conducive environment for investment from both domestic and foreign firms.
He said the budget’s primary focus was on sectors such as security, education, work, and housing, to build the economy and provide jobs for Nigerians.
“We have seen the reforms so far have brought in more revenue but we are not stopping there. We believe that our objective to achieve at least 1.8 million production per day is something that has been done before,” the minister said.
Bagudu said security gains are increasing with the mobilising of all stakeholders, noting that “the governors [recently] re-energise the National Economic Council Committee on crude oil theft and prevention”.
“So that governors will say to the extent that is happening in their state, they will take personal responsibility and lead,” he added.
He said the federal government is convinced that the revenue predictions are feasible, and that with the current budget efficiency and discipline, the country will not need to resort to extra borrowing.
Stating that budget is a permission to spend and not an obligation to spend, Bagudu urged Nigerians to take an interest in how public funds are spent to hold the government accountable.
– Jan. 13, 2024 @ 7:32 GMT |
Tags: Abubakar Atiku Bagudu Budget 2024 President Bola Tinubu
