The Senate is set to retain oil price benchmark of $60 per barrel, exchange rate of N305/$1 and 2.3 million daily oil production as key budget assumptions for the 2019 fiscal year.
This is part of the report submitted on Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Appropriation which has been working on the budget bill since last month.
The budget bill report which was submitted by the chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe) would be considered and passed when the Senate resumes on April 24.
The report, it was learnt, is in strict Compliance with the 2019-2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) which was passed last week.
The upper legislative chamber had approved all the critical assumptions and projections proposed by the President in the MTEF/FSP.
Also approved in the MTEF are total Federally Collectable revenue of N14.89 trillions; Net Oil and Gas Revenueafter Costs, Deductions & Derivations amounting to N7.60 trillion; Net Non –Oil Revenue after Costs, Deductions and derivation of N2.38trillion; and Federal Government retained revenue of N7. 92 trillion.
Other Executive proposals for 2019 adopted by the Senate include: proposed expenditure of N8.83 trillion, fiscal deficit N1.86 trillion, new borrowings N1.65 trillion, statutory transfers N492.4 billion, debt service N2.14 trillion, Sinking Fund N120 billion, total recurrent (non-debt) N4.72trillion, personnel costs (MDAs) N2.29 trillion, capital expenditure N2.86 trillion, Special Intervention N500 billion among others.
Buhari had on December 19, 2018 presented a budget of N8.83 trillion before a joint session of the National Assembly.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
