Buhari triples capital spending in 2016 budget as he presents total bill of $30bn to lawmakers

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has presented his 2016 budget to the National Assembly today with a total amount of N6.08trn (£20bn) ($30bn) of which 30% of it will be dedicated to capital projects.

 

Presenting the budget to a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives this morning, President Buhari more than tripled capital expenditure to N1.8trn from N557bn in 2015. He added that having reviewed the trends in the global oil industry, the government decided to set a benchmark price of $38 per barrel and a production estimate of 2.5m barrels per day for 2016.

 

As part of his plans to diversify the economy, President Buhari added that his government will focus on non-oil revenues by broadening Nigeria's tax base and improving the effectiveness of revenue collecting agencies. In addition, he stressed that the fuel pump price would for now remain at the present rate of N87 per litre for despite the oil glut.

 

In his presentation, President Buhari apologised profusely to Nigerians for the pains currently faced following the continued fuel scarcity across the country. He blamed the fuel scarcity with long queues on market speculators and resistance to change by some stakeholders.

 

President Buhari said: “The budget is based on a benchmark oil price of $53 per barrel, oil production of 2.28m barrels per day and an exchange rate of N190 to the US dollar. The projected revenue is N3.45trn, with an outlay of N4.49trn, implying a deficit of N1.04trn

 

Due largely to under-provisioning by the previous administration for fuel subsidy and the costs required to support the military operations in the northeast, the government had to obtain the National Assembly’s approval for a supplementary budget of N575.5nn. I take this opportunity to thank all members of the National Assembly for the prompt passage of that bill."

 

He noted that government was aware of the harsh economic situation presently being faced by Nigerians, however blaming the situation on unbridled corruption and security challenges. President Buhari pledged that his government will pursue the recovery of everything that belongs to the people of Nigeria, no matter where it is hidden and no matter how long it will take.

 

 

Highlights

Works, Power and Housing – N433.4bn

Education - N369.6bn

Defence – N294.5bn

Health - N221.7bn

Transport – N202bn

Special Intervention Programmes – N200bn

Interior – N145.3bn