Breaking : 2018 Budget laid in Senate

The Senate on Tuesday received the report of the Committee on Appropriation on the 2018 Budget.
The motion for the presentation of the budget report was moved by Senator Danjuma Goje, who is the Chairman of the Appropriation Committee and seconded by Senator Matthew Uroghide.
President Muhammadu Buhari had in November 2017 presented to a joint session of the National Assembly a budget estimate of N8.612 trillion for the 2018 fiscal year.
The key parameters and assumptions for the 2018 budget, with a deficit of N2.005 trillion as presented, include an oil benchmark of $45 per barrel, oil production estimate of 2.3 million barrels per day, exchange rate of N305/$ for 2018, real Gross Domestic Product growth of 3.5 per cent and an inflation rate of 12.4 per cent.
The proposed N8.612 trillion of the 2018 aggregate expenditure comprises recurrent costs of N3.494 trillion; debt service of N2.014 trillion; statutory transfers of about N456 billion, sinking fund of N220 billion (to retire maturing bond to local contractors) as well as capital expenditure of N2.652 trillion which is the 30.8 per cent of the entire budget.
The Senate is yet to fix a date for the consideration of the budget.