To every business owner, all the tiers of government and average Nigerian families, the federal budget is key to every decision they take in the New Year. They can now plan ahead as the federal government has presented the 2014 budget estimates of N4.910 trillion with the provision of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme funds, SURE-P to the National Assembly. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, finance minister and coordinating minister for the economy, and some of her cabinet members, made the presentation, which was in conformity with section 81 of the 1999 constitution. She explained that the sum of N3.73 trillion is expected as the federal government revenue in the New Year.

While government’s capital expenditure for 2014 is estimated at N1.1 trillion, which represents 27 per cent of the budget, the balance of N3.8 trillion is earmarked for recurrent expenditure. This reflects the increased allocation to pension as well as high wage bill. Also, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s expenditure is projected to rise from N32 billion in 2013 to N45 billion. This to Okonjo-Iweala, would enable the commission intensify preparations for the upcoming elections in 2015. To finance a deficit of N911.96, the minister disclosed that a sum of N571 billion would be borrowed from the bond market, which is a decrease from N577 billion in 2013.

According to Okonjo-Iweala, the 2014 budget supports job creation and is expected to continue President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda for several sectors of the economy. “The budget will support the push in agriculture; kick-start the housing sector, where we can create more jobs; it is designed for our policies that will support the manufacturing sector as jobs will be created there too. Job creation is the key to really solving the problems of the Nigerian economy,” she disclosed.