The Senate has passed the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, with a borrowing plan of 7.8 trillion naira for 2024, nine trillion naira deficit and a Federal Government total expenditure of 26 trillion naira.

The President of the Senate, GODSWILL AKPABIO, announced an approval for 2024, the oil price benchmark of 73 dollars per barrel of crude oil, 1.78 million barrels per day and sustained as contained in the documents, special recurrent intervention of 200 billion naira, special capital intervention of 7 billion naira and an exchange rate of 700 naira to a US dollar.

The Senate also resolved that all items locally produced should be banned from importation.

The joint committee chaired by Senator MUSA SANI also observed that a significant number of the Federal Government’s revenue-generating agencies engaged in arbitrary, frivolous, and extra-budgetary expenditure and recommended that a review of the laws of all revenue-generating agencies be carried out.

Other recommendations are that the National Assembly begin the process of amending the Fiscal Responsibility Act (2007) to enhance the agencies’ ability to enforce fiscal responsibility and impose sanctions on erring Corporations.

Another recommendation that attracted debate was the recommendation that Federal Government Agencies ensure the deployment of ICT in the collection of all revenues by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies including stamp duty collection activities to block leakages.