Buhari presents 2018 appropriation bill to NASS, says ‘N8.612trn Budget will sustain steady economic recovery’

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, presented an appropriation bill of N8.612 trillion for 2018.
The President, while presenting the document before the joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja, said the budget was meant to consolidate the achievements of previous budgets.
He said the 2018 budget was also to deliver on Nigeria’s economic recovery growth.
The proposed budget had a 16 per cent increase compared to the 2017 appropriation of N7.298 trillion.
Buhari said that 30.8 per cent of the budget proposal had been dedicated to capital expenditure, while N3.494 trillion of the proposal had been set aside for recurrent expenditure.
According to him, N2.014trillion of the budget has been set aside for debt servicing.
He further stated that the 2018 appropriation was under pin by an oil bench mark of 45 dollars per barrel, oil production level of 2.3 million barrel per day and exchange rate of N305 to the dollar.
The President said the size of the 2018 budget was a reflection of his administration’s determination to consolidate and sustain the nation’s economic growth.
While reviewing the performance of his administration, Buhari noted that N1.2 trillion had so far been expended on execution of capital projects through 2016 budget.
He said the Federal Government had also invested $500 million in the nation’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) as part of deliberate measures to support government’s diversification drives.
The President announced that the nation’s external reserve presently stood at $34 billion as of September  2017, while the country recorded trade surplus of N56.5 billion as of second quarter of 2017.
On food security, the President said that a committee headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had been inaugurated to check smuggling of food items across the country’s border towns.
He warned that food smugglers would be dealt with accordingly by the government.
Buhari also declared that the projected expenditure would drive rapid economic recovery.
He said at the session that with a benchmark of 45 dollars per barrel at an exchange rate of N305 to a dollar in 2018, the budget would consolidate on the achievements of previous budgets to aggressively steer the economy to the path of steady growth.
“With the economic recovery made so far, it is clear that we made the right decisions.
“And I urge you all to support the Federal Government’s policies towards economic recovery,’’ he said.
Buhari said that the government would continue to develop infrastructure and increase investments in agriculture to attain food security and reduce importation.
He added that while the Federal Government was committed to identifying alternative means of funding new projects, there was need to continue to pursue public private partnership, to provide more infrastructure in the country.
According to him, the Federal Government has been able to construct or rehabilitate about 776-kilometer roads in 2017.
The president said that the construction of Abuja metroline had attained 98 per cent completion, adding that work had commenced on the Ajaouta-Itakpe rail line which was abandoned for 17 years.
He said that the project would be delivered in September 2018, adding that the country’s power sector would witness a turn around.
“The power sector reform is still working in progress as we have increased power generation but we still have some challenges in transmission and distribution network,’’ Buhari said.
He added that the Federal Government was committed to green alternative energy.