The Senate, on Thursday at plenary, passed the 2020 budget of N10.594 trillion as against N10.33 trillion presented by President Muhammadu Buhari on October 8.
The passage followed the consideration and adoption of the report of Senate Committee on Appropriation.
Buhari had on October 8, presented the 2020 budget of N10.33 trillion to the joint session of the National Assembly for approval.
The budget was accompanied by the Finance Bill which the President also presented to the National Assembly for consideration and passage.
Presenting the report of the Appropriation Committee at plenary, Committee Chairman, Sen. Barau Jibril (APC-Kano), said the committee adopted the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) as approved by the National Assembly.
He said the committee worked harmoniously with the Executive 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.
The breakdown of the budget is, Aggregate Expenditure, N10.594 trillion, Statutory transfers, N560 billion, Debt service, N2.725 trillion, Recurrent Expenditure, N4.842 trillion, Capital Expenditure, N2.465 trillion, Fiscal Deficit, N2.28 trillion and Deficit/GDP 1.52 per cent.
The lawmakers adopted a daily crude production rate of 2.18 million barrels, as proposed by the executive.
It, however, adopted 57 dollars oil benchmark as against the executive proposal of 55 dollars.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, thanked 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.
The senate, thereafter, adjourned plenary till December 10.
Also, the House of Representatives, on Thursday, passed the 2020 Appropriation Bill of more than N10.59 trillion against the initial amount of N10.33 trillion presented by Buhari.
The House passed the bill after considering the report of the Committee on Appropriations presented by the Chairman, Muktar Betara (APC-Borno) during the Committee of Supply.
The N10.33 trillion budget was presented on October 8 by Buhari before a joint session of the National Assembly with both chambers of the assembly assuring Nigerians of passage before the end of the year.
The report, however, reflected the total sum of N10,594,362,364,830, indicating an increase of about N260 billion.
Presenting the report, Betara said “that the house do consider the Report of the Committee on Appropriations on a Bill for an Act to authorise the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the total sum of N10,594,362,364,830.
“Of which N560,470,82,235 is for Statutory Transfers; ₦2,725,498,930,000 is for Debt Service; ₦4,842,974,600,640 is for Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure; while the sum of ₦2,465,418,006,955 is for contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure for the year ending on Dec. 31, 2020.”
The initial amount allocated to Statutory Transfers was N556.7 billion reflecting an increase of about N3.77 billion, while the initial allocation to Debt Service was N2.45 trillion, reflecting an increase of about N28 billion.
The Recurrent (non-debt) Expenditure was initially put at N4.88 trillion and reflected a decrease of about N4 billion.
The House would transmit the Appropriation Bill to the President for assent.
