Nigeria’s cabinet has decided on a 6 trillion naira ($30.3 billion) budget for next year, up from 4.5 trillion naira in 2015, out of which 30 percent will be allocated for capital expenditure, the minister of budget and planning said on Monday.
Nigeria, which has Africa’s biggest economy and is the continent’s top oil producer, faces its worst economic crisis in years brought on by the sharp fall in crude prices.
Budget and Planning Minister Udoma Udo Udoma said that the cabinet was assuming a conservative oil price of $38 a barrel and oil production at 2.2 million barrels per day.
“(The cabinet) today approved a medium-term framework for three years…It will be submitted to the National Assembly…We are projecting a 30 percent capital budget for next year,” the minister said after a cabinet meeting in the presidential villa.
However, the minister did not provide details of how the budget would be funded.
Nigeria relies on oil exports for 70 percent of government revenue. In the budget for 2015, the finance ministry was forced to revise down the assumed oil price several times before submitting it based on $65 a barrel in December 2014.
Lawmakers ultimately passed the budget at an even lower level of $53 a barrel in April.
