President Bola Tinubu has signed the N54.99 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill into law to facilitate immediately implementation of the fiscal Act for national development.
The 2025 Appropriation Act represents a 99.96% increase over the 2024 N27.5 trillion budget
Tinubu signed the Appropriation Bill into law at a brief ceremony in his office at the State House, Abuja, on Friday in presence of principal officers of the National Assembly and other top government officials.
It would be recalled that bill was passed by the National Assembly on Thursday, February 13, after the President requested the lawmakers to adjust the proposal from the earlier N49.7 trillion to N54.2 trillion but the lawmakers raised the provisions to N54.99 trillion the fiscal year.
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According to the President, the upward adjustments of the Appropriation Bill provisions reflect additional anticipated revenues from agencies such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigeria Customs Service.
Specifically, President Tinubu, had during the laying of the budget before the joint session of the National Assembly explained that the FY2025 budget was prepared to address key areas, including security, infrastructure, education, and health, with an allocation of $200m to mitigate the impact of recent U.S. health aid reductions.
The 2025 budget is based on ambitious economic assumptions, including a crude oil production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (mbpd) at a benchmark price of $75 per barrel, and an exchange rate of N1,500 to 1$ and aims to reduce inflation from 34.8% to 15% within the year.
To achieve the targets, the government is pushing for a holistic reform of the fiscal system with a view to boosting revenue generation, attracting investments to key sectors, creating jobs and achieving economic stability.
For instance, one of the proposed fiscal reform provisions as contained in the tax reform bills now being considered by the National Assembly is to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) to 12.5% by 2026, and exempting essential goods such as food and medicine from VAT payment to alleviate the burden on households.
