Senate passes 2020 budget

The Senate has passed the 2020 budget of N10.594 trillion barely two months after President Muhammadu Buhari submitted the document to the National Assembly.

The passage followed the consideration and adoption of the report of Senate Committee on Appropriation by its chairman, Senator Barau Jibrin.

Presenting the report at plenary on Thursday, December 5, 2019, Jibrin said the committee adopted the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) as approved by the National Assembly.

He noted that the committee worked harmoniously with the executive arm of government in processing the bill especially in additional revenue projection to fund critical projects.

He said the increase in the budget was to allow for interventions in areas like national security, road infrastructure, mines and steel development, health, social needs among others.

Following clause-by clause consideration of the report, at the Committee of the Whole, the Senate having resolved back to plenary passed the 2020 appropriation bill into law.

2020 budget breakdown

The breakdown of the budget puts aggregate expenditure at N10.594 trillion, Statutory transfers at N560 billion, Debt service at N2.725 trillion, Recurrent Expenditure at N4.842 trillion, Capital Expenditure at N2.465 trillion, Fiscal Deficit at N2.28 trillion and Deficit/GDP at 1.52 per cent.

The lawmakers adopted a daily crude production rate of 2.18 million barrels, as proposed by the executive.

The Senate, however, adopted 57 dollars oil benchmark as against the executive proposal of 55 dollars.

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, appreciated his colleagues for their efforts on the budget, saying the success recorded was in conjunction with the House of Representatives.

He said the National Assembly has provided the executive what it needed to implement the budget.

Lawan expressed hope that the implementation of the budget would be faster, noting that the National Assembly would do well in its oversight functions.

He said the National Assembly would ensure that Nigerians get what they desired from government.

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had submitted a budget of N10.33 trillion to a join sitting of the National Assembly on October 8, 2019.

The budget was accompanied by the Finance Bill which the President also presented to the National Assembly for consideration and passage.