President Muhammadu Buhari has called on the National Assembly to revisit the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract (Amendment) sent 8th National Assembly, saying that the bill will soon be resent to the lawmakers.
The President while presenting the 2020 budget to the National Assembly, on Tuesday, charged the lawmakers to “quickly review the fiscal terms for deep offshore oil fields to reflect the current realities and for more revenue to accrue to the government”.
President Buhari noted that the bill was submitted to the 8th National Assembly in June 2018, but was unfortunately not passed into law.
“I will be re-forwarding the Bill to this Assembly very shortly and therefore urge you to pass it.
“We estimate that this effort can generate at least 500 million US dollars additional revenue for the Federal Government in 2020, and over one billion dollars from 2021.”
He noted that the Budget is the principal fiscal tool to achieve these socio-economic development targets, adding that “we remain committed to prudently planning for our future economic prosperity.
“In this regard, I have directed the reconstituted Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to commence preparations towards the development of a successor medium – and long-term economic development plans, particularly as the Nigeria Vision 20-2020 and the ERGP expire next year,” the president said.
The President had proposed a budget of N10.33 trillion as aggregate expenditure for 2020.
The expenditure estimate includes statutory transfers of N556.7 billion, non-debt recurrent expenditure of N4.88 trillion and N2.14 trillion of capital expenditure (excluding the capital component of statutory transfers). Debt service is estimated at N2.45 trillion, and provision for a Sinking Fund to retire maturing bonds issued to local contractors is N296 billion.
Buhari also put the projected revenue for 2020 at N8.155 trillion, comprising oil revenue of N2.64 trillion, non-oil tax revenues of N1.81 trillion and other revenues of N3.7 trillion.
The projected revenue is 7 percent higher than the 2019 comparative estimate of N7.594 trillion inclusive of the Government Owned Enterprises.
According to the President, the budget was designated as budget of Fiscal consolidation, and is expected to strengthen our macroeconomic environment, encourage investment in critical infrastructure, human capital development and enable institutions, especially in key job creating sectors;
He disclosed that the budget would incentivise private sector investment essential to complement the Government’s development plans, policies and programmes. It will also enable social investment programmes to further deepen their impact on those marginalised and most vulnerable Nigerians,” he said.
The President noted that “increasing share of non-oil revenues underscores our confidence in our revenue diversification strategies, going forward. Furthermore, in our efforts to enhance transparency and accountability, we shall continue our strict implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) to capture the domiciliary accounts in our foreign missions and those linked to Government-Owned Enterprises”.
The budget is based on a benchmark oil price of US$57 per barrel, daily oil production estimate of 2.18 mb and an exchange rate of N305 per US Dollar for 2020.
Buhari disclosed that the government had also projected real Gross Domestic Products (GDP) growth of 2.93% in 2020, driven largely by non-oil output.
“As economic diversification accelerates, and the enabling business environment improves. However, inflation is expected to remain slightly above single digits in 2020,” the president noted.
Tony Ailemen, Abuja
