- The Nigerian senate passed the nation’s 2015 budget on Tuesday assuming a lower oil price benchmark of $53 per barrel, compared with last year’s $77.5, amidst weaker global crude prices.
- The Senate is currently in its lame duck period as it has just a month before it tenure ends.
- Lawmakers in Nigeria had in February approved an oil price benchmark of $52 per barrel for the draft budget framework, down from an initial $78 proposed by the finance ministry in September after crude prices plunged.
- The budget also made no provision for payments for fuel subsidies, chairman joint-senate committee on appropriation and finance, Mohammed Maccido told lawmakers, after the government had in November proposed to cut it by half to 458.6 billion naira for 2015.
- The senatepassed a 4.49 trillion naira ($23 billion) budget, which is 3.2 percent lower than last year’s and is also based on an exchange rate assumption of 190 naira to the dollar.
- Oil production for the 2015 budget was estimated at 2.278 million barrels per day.
- The budget comprised of 2.6 trillion naira in recurrent expenditure and 556.9 billion naira for capital projects. It set aside 953.6 billion naira for debt service.
- The house of reps had last week passed a budget of N4.493tn
