NIGERIA'S HOUSE OF REPS PASSES 2014 BUDGET, ADJOURNS FOR 2 WEEKS.

The House of Representatives today passed the 2014 budget of N4.695 trillion. 
The approved budget is N53 billion more than the estimate presented by the executive to the National Assembly. 

It can be recalled that the budget earlier presented to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan through the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was N4.642 trillion. 
The House approved the budget after considering the report of the John Owan Enoh-led committee on Appropriation and Finance. 
The budget was based on a benchmark of 77 Dollars per barrel of crude and oil production of 2.39 million barrels per day.
 The highlights of the approved budget are statutory transfer, N408.6 billion; debt service, N712 billion; recurrent expenditure, N2.4 trillion, and capital expenditure, N1.1 trillion. Speaking on the passage of the budget, Chairman House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed said the House decided to pass the budget so as to enable ministries, departments and agencies of government to function.     The House has gone on recess to resume after two weeks.

The Senate had equally passed the 2014 budget  of 4.695 trillion naira, also raising the figure by 53 billion naira.

This followed the adoption of the report of the Joint Committee on Appropriation and Finance. Chairman, of the Committee, Senator Ahmad Maccido, said the budget was predicated on $77.50 per barrel crude oil benchmark with an exchange rate of 160 naira to a dollar at 6.75 per cent growth rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as 9.5 per cent inflation rate.

Education, Defence and Police got the highest allocation. It equally contained 408.6 billion naira for statutory transfers as well as N712 billion for debt service.

Out of that sum, 3.54 trillion was slated for recurrent expenditure, while the remaining N1.1 trillion was billed for capital projects.

The original budget sum presented to the lawmakers by the finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on behalf of the president, in December 2013, was N 4.642 trillion.