Supplementary budget will cause severe economic shocks in 2023 – LCCI warns FG

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has warned that the Federal Government planned supplementary budget will cause severe economic shocks in 2023.

It stated this on Sunday in a statement signed by its Director-General, Dr Chinyere Almona.

The Federal Government planned an N819.5 billion supplementary budget proposal by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration a few days before the year’s end.

According to Buhari, the budget would be financed by additional loans.

LCCI reacting to the development, said, “A deeper look at the figures showed that the supplementary budget if approved, will raise the budget deficit for 2022 from N10.78 trillion to N11.6 trillion and about 4.43% deficit to GDP ratio. The most critical issue, though, is not about the level of spending but the cost of borrowing”.

LCCI disclosed that the massive burrowing by Buhari’s government had had an enormous impact on the Nigerian economy, stating that increasing the nation’s debt servicing burden would make the country vulnerable to unforeseeable shocks in an election year.