Senate has on Monday passed the sum of 13.588 trillion as budget for 2021 fiscal year with an increase of N505 billion.
The passage followed the recommendation by the Senate Committee Chairman on Appropriation, Senator Jibrin Barau.
The proposal which was presented to the joint session of upper and lower legislative Chambers by President Muhammadu Buhari on October 8, 2020 has been receiving legislative attention with the aim of passing into law before the end of the year.
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The appropriation bill was then passed by the senate on Monday after Jibrin Barau, chairman of the committee on appropriation, presented a report.
While presenting his report, Barau noted that the COVID-19 pandemic affected all sectors of the economy.
The chairman said the executive arm of government could present a supplementary budget owing to the fact that the country’s crude oil price is on the rise.
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The Kano Senator stated;
That the impact of COVID-19 has affected all facets of life. There is a remarkable increase of Nigeria’s oil price.
In view of increasing oil prices, the executive may wish to submit a supplementary bill to lift the country out of recession.
On October 8, President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2021 budget of N13.08 trillion to a joint session of the national assembly.
The budget is based on an exchange rate benchmark of N379/$ and crude oil production of 1.86 million barrels per day (including 400,000 barrels of condensate) at $40 per barrel.
Capital expenditure in the budget is estimated at N2.083 trillion which represents 29 percent of the total budget. It targets three percent GDP growth and 11.95 percent inflation rate.
However, with the increase of the total budget size, the capital expenditure is now N4.125 trillion.
The sum of N3.324 trillion was earmarked for debt service and the sum of N5.641 trillion was voted for recurrent (non-debt expenditure).
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, thanked his colleagues and the executive for the cooperation as he admonished the latter to ensure the full and effective implementation of the budget of the budget.
He also urged Nigerians to pay attention to the work that the lawmakers are doing and recognise their sacrifices to ensure that the nation comes out of recession.
