NASS Increases 2018 Budget To N9.1tr

The National Assembly has increased the size of the 2018 Appropriation Bill to N9.120 trillion, up from N8.612 trillion presented by President Muhammadu Buhari last November.

The details of the budget were listed on the order paper available at the senate on Tuesday.

The 2018 Budget report was laid on the floor of plenary by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Danjuma Goje.

Speaking during today’s House sitting, Yusuf Lasun, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, said the lawmakers are expected to pass the budget on Wednesday or Thursday.

He said: “We will begin the consideration tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon and pass it but if we are not able to, we will finish on Thursday.”

“That the house do receive the report of the committee on appropriations on a bill for an act to authorize the issue from the consolidated revenue fund of the federation, the total sum of N9,120,334,988,225 (Nine Trillion, One Hundred and Twenty Billion, Three Hundred and Thirty-Four Million, Nine Hundred and Eighty-Eight Thousand, Two Hundred and Twenty-Five Naira) only.”

Some of the changes made include an increase in recurrent expenditure from the proposed N3.49 trillion to N3.51 trillion.

Also, capital expenditure was up from N2.42 trillion to N2.86 trillion, while debt service was also increased to N2.20 trillion from N2.01 trillion.