To reflect the present harsh economic realities occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Government has adjusted the 2020 budget, slashing the figures by N317.5 billion.
It will be recalled that the National Assembly had in December 2019, passed a budget of N10.5 trillion.
But in a document sighted by newsmen yesterday, the federal government reduced the 2020 estimate to N10.276 trillion, resulting in a difference of N317.5 billion.
The development also affected other components of the budget.
Consequently, the crude oil sales formerly bench marked at $57 per barrel has been slashed to $30 per barrel, while oil production volume has been reduced from 2.17 million barrel to 1.70 million barrel.
However, the exchange rate which was hitherto placed at N305 has increased to N360 to a dollar.
Federal Government’s share of oil revenue, the share of NLNG dividends, the share of minerals & mining, non-oil among others were reduced from N7.866 trillion to N4.534 trillion.
The redistributable Federal Government’s share of the Federation Account (52.68%) was reduced from N4.516 trillion to N1.648 trillion; deduction was reduced from N214.291 billion to N78.216 billion; Net Federal Government share of Federation Account (48.5%) was reduced from N4.157 trillion to N1.517 trillion, while the net ecological and derivation (after 10% transfer to NEDC) was reduced from N77.145 billion to N28.158 billion.
The document also showed a reduction in the Federal Government share of Value Added Tax (15%) from N313.472 billion to N300.732 billion; FCT 1% reduced from N20.898 billion to N20.683 billion while Net Federal Government share of VAT pool account (14%) was reduced from N292.573 billion to N280.683 billion.
The new budget was believed to have been discussed by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, during a closed door meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly yesterday.
It was learned that the details will be officially sent to the National Assembly for consideration and approval when it resumes plenary next week.
The Finance Minister also informed the National Assembly leadership that the Ministry was set to present the revised 2020 budget as well as the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF)/Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
The meeting also featured the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, the Group Managing Director, GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mele Kyari, among others government officials.
