NIGERIA’S Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala yesterday presented estimates of the N4.357 trillion 2015 budget to the Senate with a cut of N357 billion.
On November 18, President Goodluck Jonathan proposed N4.724 trillion budget in the 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) he presented to the National Assembly.
The minister, however, gave kudos to the Federal Government for reducing inflation in the country from 8.1 to 7.9 per cent.
Okonjo-Iweala told newsmen shortly after laying the budget in the Senate chamber that government aimed to diversify the economy in 2015 with attention on tax revenue.
“We have submitted the 2015 budget (and) the highlights are: the benchmark price for oil of $65; Production figure of 2.27m bpd; we have estimated a GDP growth based on the circumstances of the country, which will be about 5.5 per cent, this is down from the 6.35 per cent we had earlier from the National Bureau of Statistics which is still one of the best growth rate in the world.
“The budget seeks to protect the average Nigerian because the key is that it focuses on the diversification of the economy and it has been working because food prices have not risen in spite of the depreciation of the naira.
“If you check all around the markets, you will observe that the average Nigerian is still enjoying stable food prices. In some places like Enugu, the price of gari has even fallen. Inflation rate as estimated by the National Bureau of Statistics has fallen from 8.1 to 7.9 per cent.
“This budget really focuses on moving us to diversify economy and raise non-oil revenue. We have made up for the fall of $13 per barrel, from $17 to $65, by raising non-oil revenue through various types of taxes and policies. The surcharge on luxury goods is there, plus additional tax efforts to close leakages in revenue.”
Back in the chamber, Senate President, David Mark, announced that Senate would resume on January 13, 2015 and proceed with debate on the budget estimates. He also implored the relevant committees to start work on the document.
Sun Nigeria
