President Buhari has forwarded the 2016 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to the National Assembly for consideration and passage. In the budget, the administration plans to spend 500 billion naira ($2.5 billion) in 2016 on social welfare programmes.
In the MTEF, President Muhammadu Buhari earmarked N500 billion for school feeding programme initiatives, conditional cash transfer to most vulnerable Nigerians and post-NYSC grant. Out of the budget proposal of N6.04 trillion, the Federal Government’s revenue is projected at N3.82 trillion and would borrow N2.22 trillion to finance the 2016 budget.
The MTEF further revealed that the total public debt of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stood at N12.11 trillion as at June 2015.
In item 227 tagged ‘Recoveries of Misappropriated Funds’, about N350 billion was recovered by government. The 2016 MTEF also showed that the National Assembly budget was slashed from N120 billion to N115 billion. Budget and Planning Minister Udoma Udo Udoma has said 30 percent of next year’s budget would be allocated for capital expenditure, up from around 15 percent in 2015.
He said ministers aimed to fund this through a rise in non-oil revenues. The draft budget framework assumes an oil price of $38 a barrel and oil production at 2.2 million barrels per day. Lawmakers passed the 2015 budget at $53 a barrel in April.
However, figures in the draft framework can be changed until parliamentarians approve the budget. The speed with which the plans are approved by the National Assembly will dictate when the next budget will be implemented.
