By Dipo Olowookere
The revised 2020 budget worth N10.8 trillion will be signed into law on Friday, July 10, 2020 (today) by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, made this disclosure on Thursday when she held a meeting with principal officers of the parliament in Abuja.
The signing of the appropriation bill is expected to take place at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Last month, the legislative arm of government passed the new budget, which had the crude oil benchmark set at $25 per barrel to reflect the current global reality, which has pressured the price of the commodity.
The coronavirus disease has put many economies in crisis, including Nigeria and its main source of earnings, crude oil, has not performed well at the international market, with the price falling from $65 per barrel last year to $40 per barrel at the moment.
Speaking during her meeting with the lawmakers yesterday, the Finance Minister said based on the agreement signed by Nigeria with other oil producers, the country’s oil production for this year may not exceed 1.4 million barrels per day.
However, she expressed optimism that the executive will work towards keeping the economy viable despite the obvious challenges at the moment.
The Minister also informed the key officials of the parliament that efforts are being taken to come up with the spending plan of the federal government for 2021-2023, noting that the framework should be submitted to them later this month, while the budget should be presented in two months’ time for the normal scrutiny.
“This for us is a journey towards ensuring that the progress that we have made as a collective to return the fiscal year to January–December is maintained for the 2021 budget as well.
“The President has directed that we must deliver the budget to the National Assembly by the end of September,” she told the congressmen at the meeting.
Adedapo Adesanya