The President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has presented a budget proposal of N4.92 trillion to the National Assembly.
Titled “Fiscal Consolidation with Inclusive Growth”, the 2013 budget is premised on a $75 oil benchmark.
The 2013 budget is five per cent higher than that of 2012, which was N4.7 trillion.
Addressing a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, Jonathan told the lawmakers that the 2013 budget proposal is based on oil production of 2.53 million barrels per day, up from 2.48 million barrels per day for 2012 and a benchmark oil price of US$75/barrel, a modest increase from the US$72/barrel approved in the 2012 Budget.
Jonathan told the lawmakers that the Federal Government is expecting an income of N10.84 trillion, with its own share being N3.89 trillion.
He said this income will represent a nine per cent increase over the revenue that accrued to the Federal Government in 2012.
He said the 2013 budget proposal is made up of N380.02 billion for Statutory Transfers, N591.76 billion for Debt Service, N2.41 trillion for Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure and N1.54 trillion for Capital Expenditure.
Jonathan added: “Based on the above, the fiscal deficit is projected to improve to about 2.17 per cent of GDP in the 2013 Budget compared to 2.85 per cent in 2012. This is well within the threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 and clearly highlights our commitment to fiscal prudence. We are determined to further rein in domestic borrowing, and this way, ensure that our debt stock remains at a sustainable level.
“Our focus on critical economic and social sectors continues. Some of these sectors are largely driven by private sector activity, while others require a great deal of public sector support. Some key allocations are as follows: Works – N183.5 billion; Power – N74.26 billion; Education – N426.53 billion; Health – N279.23 billion; Defence – N348.91 billion; Police – N319.65 billion; and Agriculture & Rural Development – N81.41 billion.
“The power and gas sectors require a lot of investments to sustain our supply improvements. We shall therefore complement available resources with a proposed Infrastructure Euro Bond of about $1 billion in order to complete gas pipelines and other infrastructure investments. We have also programmed other grants and soft credits critical to infrastructure and other sectors in our medium term external borrowing plan.
“The SURE-P will continue with the expected resources of N180 billion in 2013 augmented by the projected 2012 unspent balances bringing the total to about N273.5 billion. We hope to make further progress in the programme, providing additional infrastructure investments and social safety net schemes for Nigerians. I am pleased to also lay before this esteemed Assembly, the 2013 Budget for the SURE-P.”
The full budget speech will be available on this website shortly.
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