The Federal Government yesterday presented a budget proposal
of N4.6 trillion for the 2014 fiscal year to the National Assembly. The
proposed budget christened ‘Budget for Job Creation and Growth’ represents N100
billion reduction from the N4.7 trillion that was budgeted for this year.
Capital expenditure is projected at N1.1 trillion
representing 27.29 per cent, down from 31.9 per cent in the current year. The
reduction in capital expenditure was attributed to increased allocation to
pension and high wage bill. The N4.6 trillion expenditure is to be financed
from budgeted revenue of N3.37 billion, while the balance will come from N571
billion debt.
The budget is based on
oil price of $77.5 per barrel and
crude oil production of 2.38 million
barrels per day(bpd) with an average exchange rate of N160 per dollar.
The budget was presented by
the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who represented President Jonathan. Though she did not give
details of the budget and the amount for the recurrent expenditure, highlights
of the proposed budget were however later released by the Ministry of Finance.
Speaking to Journalists after presenting the budget, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said
that the aggregate expenditure of N4.6 trillion excludes the Subsidy
Reinvestment Expenditure Programme, SURE-P.
She said, “I felt very privileged, it’s an honour that
Mr. President has asked me to carry out
this task in conjunction with my colleagues in the cabinet, and of course, the
Director General of the Budget Office supported me to do this great honour.
“This budget is the Budget for Job Creation and Inclusive
Growth, meaning that it’s a budget which will continue the President’s
transformation agenda for several sectors of the economy. The budget is going
to support the push in agriculture.
“It will kick-start the housing sector where we can create
more jobs, it is designed for our
policies that would support manufacturing because jobs would be created there.
Industries will also be created in solid minerals sector. All these support
will continue to be unleashed. Job
creation is the key to really solving the problems of the Nigerian economy.
“Aggregate expenditure excluding SURE – P funds is about N4.6 trillion and the revenue is
about N3.73 trillion. The capital is
about N1.1 trillion and makes up about 27 percent of the budget, the balance of
course is the recurrent, and it is about 72 percent of the budget.”
The Minister explained that the distinguishing feature
between the 2013 budget and that of the 2014 budget was the focus the
government had in continuation of the 2013 budget especially on the area of job
creation for the youths and promised that the government was not going to
relent in pushing forward.
She said, “All the programmes that create jobs are very well
supported, the SURE -P is also part of it, community services programmes would
be pushed, the You-Win programme would be pushed.”
The Minister further said that the government would pursue
vigorously infrastructural development.
“The infrastructure development is part of it, the Hon
Minister of Transport is here, we have been working on rail development.
Ministry of Niger Delta is also part of the infrastructure development, Water
resources, FCT development and so on.
“We have privatised power but we will be working on the
transmission to direct resources there. The distinguishing thing is that it’s a
continuation of what we have done before but with more emphasis on really
pushing out jobs and also supporting safety nets that can further redistribute
income to poor people in the country.”
HIGHLIGHTS:
Baseline Assumptions
Baseline Assumptions
*Benchmark Oil Price: $77.5pb
*Budgeted Oil Production: 2.3883mbpd
*Average Exchange Rate: N160/$, same as in 2013
*Real GDP Growth Rate: 6.75%
Revenue Projections
*Gross Federally Collectible Revenue: N10.88 trillion
*Gross Federally Collectible Oil & Gas Revenue: N7.16
trillion
*Total deductions, including cost of crude oil production,
subsidy payments, and domestic gas development is N2.15 trillion, same as in
2013.
*Subsidy payments were maintained at the 2013 level of
N971.1 billion.
*Gross Federally Collectible Non-Oil Revenue: N3.29 trillion
*FGN Budget Revenue: N3.73 trillion
Expenditure Projections
*Aggregate Expenditure (Net of SURE-P): N4.642 trillion
*Aggregate Expenditure (Inclusive of SURE-P): N4.910 trillion
*Statutory Transfers: N399.7 billion
*INEC’s expenditure is to increase from the N32 billion
provisioned in 2013 to N45 billion. This is to enable the Commission intensify
preparations towards the 2014 elections.
*National Assembly’s allocation is to be maintained at the
2013 level of N150 billion.
*The provision for debt service is N712 billion from the 2013
level of N591.8 billion.
*Recurrent (non-debt) Spending: N2.43 trillion from N2.80
trillion in 2013
*Personnel cost increased slightly from the 2013 amendment
Budget provision of N1.718 trillion to N1.723 trillion for 2014.
*Capital Expenditure: N1.100 trillion
l Share of Capital in total Expenditure: 27.29%down from
31.9% in 2013 reflecting the increased allocation to pension as well as high
wage bill
*Share of Recurrent in total Spending: 72.71%
*Provision for SURE-P: N268.37 billion
Fiscal Balance
*Fiscal Deficit: N911.96 billion
*Fiscal Deficit as share of GDP: 1.90
*New Borrowing Requirement: N571 billion, a decrease from
N577 billion in 2013
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