Reps Hike Nigeria’s Amended 2020 Budget By N300bn

Nigeria’s House of Representatives on Wednesday Raised the country’s revised 2020 budget President Muhammadu Buhari submitted late last month by N300bn to N10.8tr ($30bn), based on oil prices of $28 per barrel, up from $3pb.

The Senate is set to consider the amended budget on Thursday, after Tuesday deferred presentation of the report over a delay by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, to provide details for the N186bn, an amount which is part of the N500bn COVID-19 intervention fund.

“Tomorrow, we can receive and consider the report to ensure that we don’t delay anything as important as that. So, this is the essence of altering the order paper,” Ahmed Lawan, the Senate President announced at Wednesday’s plenary.

Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Barau Jibrin, on Tuesday had explained that the Finance Ministry was yet to comply with the request of the Committee by attaching necessary details for the amount to be captured as part of the 2020 budget amendment bill.

The government had proposed a slight cut its record 2020 budget due to the coronavirus pandemic and an oil price plunge.

The budget also assumes oil production at 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd).

Reuters reported oil prices recovered from a 20-year low of just under $16 per barrel in March, trading at $41.65 on Wednesday evening.

But Nigeria has also agreed to limit its oil output to 1.412mbpd as part of a deal with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, which has been extended through the end of July.

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