President Muhammadu Buhari may have set to present to the nation, a budget of about N8 trillion for 2016.
This fact came to light via a document from office of the Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo which was seen by Reuters on Friday. The budget wil be twice that of last year’s, which was N4.4 trillion
It is unknown how the federal government plans to fund the budget in an economy going downward due to the sharp fall in crude prices, as oil exports account for 70 percent of government revenue.
The document, used as the basis for a presentation by Osinbajo to the incoming ministers, during a two-day retreat for them, proposed capital expenditure of N2 trillion next year, up from N1.3 trillion in 2015.
The document presented to them, titled: “The Economy – Where We Are Today”, laid out the extent to which the country has been hit by plunging oil prices, stating that in May, foreign reserves hit a 10-year low of $29.6 billion.
A page headed “How can we get out of a possible recession?” outlined the need for a “massive infrastructure building” programme for roads, rail and power, along with “expansionist” fiscal and monetary policies.
The presentation by Osinbajo, who heads the National Economic Council (NEC), stated that this would be paid for by a N25 billion infrastructure fund and a N2.5 trillion “special intervention fund.” [myad]
