National Assembly Cuts 2015 Budget By N30bn

national assembly

The National Assembly has cut down its budget from N150 billion ($751 million) to N120 billion ($600 million) to accommodate the shortfall in expected government revenue as oil prices continue to fall.

The legislators have also settled on $53 per barrel as the official oil benchmark for the 2015 budget. This development came following a meeting where both chambers of the National Assembly converged to deliberate based on their respective positions on the 2015 budget benchmark.

According to a report by business analysis blog, Nairametrics, the Senate had earlier agreed on $52 whereas House of Representative approved $54 per barrel as benchmark for Oil, amid falling global oil prices using an exchange rate of N190 to $1 for the year.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) daily basket price of 12 crudes, which includes Nigeria’s Bonny Light stood at $52.25 a barrel Wednesday, March 11 2015 from $53.03 the previous day.