House of Reps to Review Crude Oil Benchmark

The House of Representatives in Nigeria says the National Assembly will surely review the crude oil benchmark price for the 2016 budget.

The possibility of the review was made known on Wednesday by the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin.

Nigeria’s 2016 budget had been submitted to the National Assembly in December by the President, with a benchmark of $38 less than the current crude oil price.

This price per barrel has triggered comments about how realistic the budget proposal of 6.07 trillion Naira, with 2.22 trillion Naira deficit and a crude oil benchmark of $38 was.

But on Monday, the Minister of Budget and National Planning in Nigeria, Senator Udo Udoma, tried to allay Nigerians fears, assuring them that the falling crude oil price would not affect the nation’s 2016 budget submitted with the oil benchmark of $38 per barrel.

He told the lawmakers that there was a plan to cushion all shortfalls that may arise as a result of the drop in oil prices.

A breakdown of the 2016 Budget includes;

GDP Growth Rate Projection 4.37%
Revenue Projection 3.86 Naira
Deficit 2.22 trillion Naira (equivalent to 2.16% of Nigeria’s GDP)
Oil Related Revenues 820 billion Naira
Non-oil Revenues 1.45 trillion Naira
Projected Independent Revenues 1.51 trillion Naira
Capital Expenditure 1.8 trillion Naira (30%  of total budget)
Works, Power and Housing 433.4 billion Naira
Transport 202.0 billion Naira
Interior 53.1 billion Naira
Special Intervention Programs 300 billion Naira
Education 369.6 billion Naira
Defence 294.5 billion Naira
Health 221.7 billion Naira
Ministry of Interior 145.3 billion Naira
Foreign and Domestic Debt Service 1.36 trillion Naira
Sinking Fund towards the retirement of maturing loans 113 billion Naira
Non-debt Recurrent Expenditure 2.65 trillion Naira
To address Nigerians concerns, however, the National Assembly is considering the review of the benchmark.

Mr Jibrin said that the new benchmark that would be arrived at, would be a practical figure.

The Chairman is also encouraging the executive to fully implement the Integrated Personnel Payroll System as a means of reducing the recurrent part of the country’s budget.