The Nigerian Senate has on Wednesday passed the medium-term expenditure framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP), for 2024-2026, a set of assumptions that will be used to prepare the country’s budget over the next three years.

The Upper Chamber approved the document with a borrowing plan of 7.8 trillion naira for 2024, 9trillion naira deficit and Federal Government total expenditure of 26 trillion naira.

The Senate President who read out the whole breakdown before voice vote noted that the Senate resolved that all items locally produced should be banned from importation.

These approvals were sequel to the consideration and adoption of the recommendations in the report of 2024–2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) presented by Senator Sani Musa and considered by the Committee of whole with Godswill Akpabio as chairman and adopted at plenary.

The joint committee chaired by Senator Sani 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 (FRA, 2007) in order to enhance the agencies’ ability to enforce fiscal responsibility and impose sanctions on erring Corporations.