Jonathan shocks National Assembly, calls off 2014 budget presentation

Following disagreement over the benchmark price of crude oil for the 2014 budget, President Goodluck Jonathan has cancelled the budget presentation to the Joint Session of the National Assembly slated for 12 noon on Tuesday.
Report reaching The Eagle Online says the President is insisting on using the $74 per barrel benchmark for the budget, hence his decision to call off the presentation until when the lawmakers are ready to agree to his proposal.
The Senate had last week Wednesday approved the 2014-2016 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which is an important element for annual budget planning.
It approved an average exchange rate of N160 to 1 Dollar for the next three years and $76.50 per barrel as benchmark price of crude oil, as against $74 proposed by President Jonathan for 2014.
The budget was earlier slated for presentation on November 12, 2013 but could not hold because the 2014-2016 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper was yet to be approved.
The Senate also approved crude oil production of 2,3883mbpd for 2014 as well as 2,5007mbpd and 2,5497mbpd for 2015 and 2016 respectively.
Members of the Upper Chamber while adopting the MTEF/FSP, called on the Federal Government to strengthen and consolidate its fiscal strategy to narrow the gap between projected and actual revenue for the period 2014-2016.