President Bola Tinubu has signed the N54.99 trillion 2025 appropriation bill into law, marking a 99.96 percent increase from the 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion.
The bill was approved by the National Assembly on February 13 after revisions to Tinubu’s initial budget proposal of N49.7 trillion.
The key breakdown of the 2025 budget includes a total expenditure of N54.99 trillion, statutory transfers of N3.65 trillion, and a recurrent (non-debt) expenditure of N13.64 trillion.
According to the President, the revenue boost includes:
- N1.4 trillion from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)
- N1.2 trillion from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)
- N1.8 trillion from other government-owned agencies
These additional funds have provided the government with the fiscal room to expand the budget and address critical national priorities.
Analysts have raised concerns about the growing fiscal deficit, estimated at N13.08 trillion, and the rising debt servicing costs.
At N14.32 trillion, debt servicing accounts for a significant portion of the budget, which could impact funds available for infrastructure and social programs.
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President Tinubu assured Nigerians during the budget presentation of his commitment to reducing Nigeria’s inflation rate from 34.6% to 15% by the end of 2025.
Tinubu stated, “The 2025 budget projects that inflation will decline significantly from the current 34.6% to 15%,”.
Also, the president promised to stabilise the exchange rate to N N1,500/$1. Tinubu noted, “Concurrently, the exchange rate will improve from approximately N1,700 per dollar to N1,500. These projections are critical for stabilizing the economy and ensuring sustainable growth.”
Some analysts have expressed concerns over the fiscal regime of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, describing the increase in debt servicing from N8 trillion in 2024 to N16 trillion in 2025 as a ‘red flag.
“The fiscal regime [under President Bola Tinubu] has a red flag. And the red flag is the fact that debt service has increased from N8 trillion last year to N16 trillion. So, that is a red flag because the debt service at N16 trillion is more than Defence, Security, Infrastructure, Health, and Education combined which is N14 trillion,” Tilewa Adebayo, the CEO of CFG Advisory said.
Dr. Muda Yusuf, the CEO of the Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE), expressed concerns over the potential level of implementation for capital projects.
He said during the budget defence of MDA at the National Assembly that the level of implementation remains poor.
