NASS adopts $36 oil benchmark for 2016 budget

Indications emerged on Monday that the National Assembly may have finally adopted a $36 per barrel oil benchmark for the 2016 budget as against the $38 benchmark earlier proposed by the Executive in what is seen as a conservative stance on the recovery of  volatile oil prices.

The National Assembly has promised to pass the 2016 Appropriation Bill on Thursday, rekindling hope for economic activity, especially for the critical sectors of the Nigerian economy, including the real, power and construction sectors.

But global benchmark Brent crude fell back below $40 a barrel on Monday, trading at about $39, down some cents against last Friday’s figures. Brent had hit a 12 year low of $27.10 in January.

BusinessDay reliably gathered that the joint Senate and House of Representatives’ Committees on Appropriations unanimously adopted $36 oil benchmark against $38 benchmark proposed by the Executive for the year 2016 fiscal year.

Our source confirmed that the unanimous decision was aimed at reflecting the current realities of crude oil price at the international market.

As at the weekend, the two joint committees of the Senate and House of Representatives had accelerated work on the computation and compilation of budget proposals for various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, urged the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment to step up its oversight activities to ensure that about N4 trillion earmarked for expenditure by the Federal Government in the 2016 budget is spent to support local industries.

Recall that the chairmen of both Committees on Appropriations, Danjuma Goje and Abdulmumin Jibrin, at the press briefing held penultimate week, assured that the report on the 2016 Appropriation Bill would be laid before the two Houses on Wednesday (tomorrow) while it would be passed on Thursday, unfailingly.

Our correspondent who monitored the activities of the committees confirmed that members of the House of Representatives have submitted details of their constituency projects for capturing in the Appropriation bill.

While the joint Committees are summing up various sub-heads of all the MDAs, the source noted that the final total budget may be about five percent higher than the N6.077 trillion proposed in the budget proposal.

He also assured that the budgetary provisions for both agriculture, of N43 billion and solid minerals sector, of N9 billion that are critical to the diversification policy would receive better funding.

Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works, Power and Housing had during the budget defence, stressed the need for timely passage of the budget, in the bid to alleviate the sufferings of the citizens, especially those who lost their jobs as a result of the backlog of multi-billion naira contracts awarded by the past administration.

The lawmakers also assured that grey areas observed in the budget proposals had been cleared during the meeting held with the Ministers of Finance, Budget & Planning, Accountant General of the Federation and Director-General of Budget of the Federation.

At the meeting, Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning, revealed that the Executive’s intention was to allow private sector funding for the mineral and agricultural sectors.

KEHINDE AKINTOLA