The Senate has approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) for 2024-2026.
It has also ordered an investigation into all tax waivers granted since 2015 and directed that no waivers be granted that are not directly related to non-governmental/non-profit organizations.
The Senate stated that certain conditions must be met before waivers can be approved, and that some people have benefited from the waiver year after year.
Senator Sani Musa, chairman of the Joint Senate Committees on Finance, Appropriations, National Planning, and Foreign Debt, told reporters after the plenary that the waiver had cost so much.
He said: “We cannot continue to talk of waiver, while we kill our local manufacturers.
What we have today are cartels, who are not given back to Nigeria. We will take the bull by the horn.”
He stated that Customs informed the Senate that the country lost about N1.3 trillion due to waivers, adding that it makes no economic sense to grant waivers when nothing is gained.
According to the Senate Joint Committees report, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will borrow N7.8 trillion to fund the N26 trillion budget for 2024 that will be presented to the National Assembly soon. The budget allocates N8.2 trillion for debt service.
Sani Musa revealed in the report presented for consideration on the Senate floor that the Federal government projected a reduction in inflation from 27.33% to 21.4% in 2024.
