President Muhammadu Buhari has proposed a budget of N8.612 trillion for
\nthe year 2018.<\/p>\n
The President gave the breakdown of the 2018 Appropriation Bill, while
\naddressing a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
President Buhari told the lawmakers that the proposal is based on an oil
\nbenchmark of $45 per barrel, an oil production rate of 2.3 million barrels
\nper day, an exchange rate of 3.5 percent, inflation rate of 12.4 percent
\nand a real GDP growth of 3.5 percent.<\/p>\n
According to the President, out of the N8.612 trillion, N3.494 trillion
\nhas been proposed for recurrent expenditure, and N2.428 trillion for
\ncapital expenditure \u2013 excluding the capital component of statutory
\ntransfers.<\/p>\n
The Buhari administration plans to use N2.014 trillion for debt service,
\nN46 billion for statutory transfers and N220 billion as sinking fund to
\nretire maturing bonds and pay local contractors.<\/p>\n
Total capital expenditure, including the capital component of statutory
\ntransfer, is N2.652 trillion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn keeping with our policy, 30.8% of N2.652tn of aggregate expenditure,
\ninclusive of capital statutory transfers has been allocated to the capital
\nprojects.
\nWe expect our fiscal operations to result in a deficit of N2.005tn or
\n1.77% of GDP,\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n
According to him, the reduction in the budget deficit for 2018, compared
\nto 2017, is in line with his administrtion\u2019s plan under the Economic
\nRecovery and Growth Plan to progressively reduce the deficit and
\nborrowings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe plan to finance the deficit partly by new borrowings, estimated at
\nN1.699tn. Fifty percent of this borrowing will be sourced externally,
\nwhile the balanced will be source domestically,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe balance of the deficit of N306bn is to be financed from proceeds of
\nprivatisation of some non-oil assets by the Bureau of Public Enterprises.\u201d<\/p>\n
Capital Allocations
\nIn terms of key capital allocations, the Ministry of Power, Works, and
\nHousing got the lion\u2019s share.<\/p>\n
Minister of Power, Works, and Housing \u2013 N555.88 billion
\nMinistry of Transport \u2013 N263.1 billion
\nSocial Intervention Programmes \u2013 N150 billion
\nMinistry of Defence \u2013 N144 billion
\nMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development \u2013 N118.98 billion
\nMinistry of Water Resources \u2013 N95.11 billion
\nMinistry of Industry, Trade and Investment \u2013 N82.92 billion
\nMinistry of Interior \u2013 N63.26 billion
\nMinistry of Education \u2013 N61.73 billion
\nUniversal Basis Education Commission \u2013 N109.06 billion
\nMinistry of Health \u2013 N71.11 billion
\nFederal Capitial Territory \u2013 N40 billion
\nZonal Intervention Project \u2013 N100 billion
\nNorth-East Intervention Programme \u2013 N45 billion
\nNiger Delta Ministry \u2013 N53.8 billion
\nNiger Delta Development Commission \u2013 N71.2 billion
\nDebt profile
\nThere has been a lot of concern about the country\u2019s debt profile and with
\nthe amount proposed for debt service N2.014 trillion, the President
\noffered some explanations about what his government is doing about the
\nissue.<\/p>\n
One of the steps taken so far is to closely monitor the debt service to
\nrevenue ratio, according to him.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cWe shall address this ratio through our non-oil revenue
\ngeneration drive and restructuring of the existing debt portfolio.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresently, domestic debt accounts for about 79 percent of the total debt.
\nOur medium-term strategy is to reduce proportion to 60 percent by the end
\nof 2019 and increase external debt to 40 percent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is noteworthy that re-balancing our debt portfolio would enhance
\nprivate sector access to domestic credit. In addition, annual debt service
\ncosts will reduce as external debt are serviced at lower rates and
\nretained over a longer period than domestic debt.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Muhammadu Buhari has proposed a budget of N8.612 trillion for the year 2018. The President gave the breakdown of the 2018 Appropriation Bill, while addressing a joint session of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n