FG slashes 2015 budget by N235bn

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

In reaction to the economic challenges which the crash of oil price from $110 per barrel to now $77 per barrel in the international market has triggered, the Federal Government has slashed the 2015 Budget by N235 billion.

In a revised Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) proposal, which President Goodluck Jonathan forwarded to the Senate President, David Mark, titled: “Submission of Revised 2015-2017 Medium -Term Expenditure Framework”, the federal government reduced the 2015 Budget estimate from N4.817trillion to N4.661 trillion.

Though, in the 2015 Budget estimate, which is now based on a $73 per barrel oil benchmark, as against the earlier proposed $78 per barrel, the oil production per day remains 2.2782 million barrels, with N162 exchange rate to the dollar.

The N235 billion shortfall in the latest proposed total expenditure profile arose from cuts effected from critical areas like SURE-P which had N259billion earlier earmarked for its capital expenditure but now reduced to N184billion in the latest proposal.

Others are the MDAs capital expenditure , earlier estimated for N1.029trillion but now reduced to N872billion, while the subsidy for petroleum has now been reduced, from N971 billion to N458 billion and subsidies for kerosene reduced from N250 billion to N156 billion in the current proposal.