Why we increased oil price benchmark in 2022 budget- Senator Barau

The Senate committee on Appropriations says the increase in oil price Benchmark in 2022 budget from US$57 to US$62 was done to reflect the current market value in the international market, adding that the exchange rate was pegged at N410.15/US$1, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Rate at 4.2 and Inflation Rate at 13 percent.

The Committee Chairman, Senator Jibrin Barau, stated this in an interview with select journalists shortly after the passage of the 2022 budget by the Senate on Wednesday.

Recalls that the Senate on Wednesday passed an aggregate expenditure of N17,126,873,917,692 trillion naira as budget for the 2022 fiscal year.The Senate increased the 2022 appropriations from N16,391,023,917,692 to N17,126,873,917,692.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, Kano North Senator, Jibrin said the revenue projection for the 2022 budget was predicated on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework/Fiscal Strategy Paper approved by the National Assembly, recalled that the National Assembly had approved 1.88mbpd Daily Oil Production and US$62 as against $US57 proposed by the executive arm of government.

The Senator Barau explained that out of the N17,126,873,917,692 passed, N869,667,187,542 is for Statutory Transfer; N6,909,849,788,737 is for Recurrent Expenditure; N5,467,403,959,863 is for Capital Expenditure; and N3,879,952,981,550 is for Debt Service. 

He noted  that additional revenues discovered should be provided to the Works and Housing Ministry for funding of critical projects, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for the 2023 General Elections, Defence and the National Population Commission for the 2022 Population Census.Senator Barau Jibrin added that  N98 billion naira increase in deficit should be approved to take care of some of the additional requests from the executive arm of government.