The Nigerian Senate has passed the 2022 Appropriation Bill for second reading.

Thelagostimes recalls that President Buhari had on Thursday last week presented an N16.39 trillion budget proposal for the 2022 fiscal year.

Out of the total expenditure of N16.39 trillion naira proposed for the Federal Government in 2022, N768.28 is for statutory transfers; N6.83 trillion is for non-debt recurrent costs; and N4.11 trillion.

Others are N577.0 billion for pensions, gratuities, and retirees’ benefits; N792.39 for overheads; N5.35 trillion for capital expenditure, including a capital component of statutory transfers; N3.61 trillion for debt service; and N292.71 billion Naira for sinking fund to retire certain maturing bonds.

During the debate, lawmakers noted the budget deficit of N6.26 trillion, an amount representing 3.39 per cent of estimated GDP, and the proposed borrowing.

The lawmakers who contributed to the debate expressed concerns over the increasing fiscal deficit and the government’s continued borrowing to fund capital projects.

While some defended the borrowings, which the executive said were to build the much-needed infrastructure, others advocated Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as an alternative to loans.

The bill, after scaling the second reading, was referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations to report back in four weeks.

Meanwhile, the Senate has suspended the plenary till November 9 2021 to enable its committees to work on the appropriation bill.