President Goodluck Jonathan Presents N4.92 Trillion 2013 Budget To National Assembly

President Goodluck Jonathan has proposed a total expenditure of N4.92 trillion for the 2013 fiscal year.

Addressing a joint session of the National Assembly, the president said the budget which is based on fiscal consolidation has the deficit reduced to 2.17% from 2.85% in 2012.

The budget maintained an oil benchmark of $75 per barrel as provided in the Middle Term Expenditure Framework with a reduction in the recurrent expenditure and increase in the capital expenditure.

Under the outlay, recurrent expenditure will cost N2.41 trillion while N1.54 trillion will be spent on capital projects.

He put the oil production at 2.53 million bpd up by 500, 000 bpd (2.48 million bpd) this year, and a global oil price of $75 a barrel, up from $72 this year.

Jonathan urged The National Assembly to accept a tighter budget because of ongoing uncertainty over oil prices.

“This threat of oil price volatility remains constant and forces us to rely on a prudent methodology when calculating the benchmark price,” he said.

“These are uncertain times in the world economy. We’ve taken necessary steps to mitigate possible negative effects … of a global recession.”

He proposed cutting recurrent expenditure to 68.7 percent of the total budget, from its current 71.47 percent.

The president also  added that the government would issue a $1 billion Eurobond next year to finance a gas pipeline for domestic use.