Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Saabi Abdullahi, has said that the National Assembly might reduce the crude oil benchmark price of $38 per barrel proposed by the executive for the 2016 budget.
The price of oil in the international market as of Thursday was slightly below $33 per barrel, leaving a deficit of $5 per barrel from the $38 in the budget estimates.
Speaking to journalists in his office, Abdullahi said that both chambers of the National Assembly were being realistic in coming up with the decision to cut the benchmark price going by the alarming rate at which oil price was falling daily in the international market.
He added that in considering the budget, the National Assembly would pay attention to the critical issue of revenue diversification.
He commended the Central Bank of Nigeria for what he described as an effective management of the foreign exchange system.
