MTEF/FSP: Senate pegs oil benchmark at $40 pb, exchange rate at N379

Senate on Thursday pegged the benchmark price of crude oil in the 2021 budget at $40 per barrel just as it also put the exchange rate of $1 at N379.

This is even as the upper legislative chamber put new foreign and domestic borrowings by the federal government at N4.28 trillion.

These followed the passage of the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF and Fiscal Strategy Paper, FSP projections upon which the 2021 budget would be based.

The passage of the document was sequel to the consideration of a harmonized conference report of the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Finance.

In his presentation, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Olamilekan Solomon Adeola (APC Lagos West), said the conference committee report was a harmonized position of both chambers upon examination of the differences contained in the 2021-2023 MTEF/FSP document.

Senator Adeola explained that the joint committee of the two chambers after due deliberations recommended that “daily crude oil production be pegged at 1.86mbpd; benchmark oil price at US$40 per barrel; exchange rate at N379 to $1USD; Gross Domestic Growth, GDP rate at three percent; inflation growth rate at 11.95 percent; and federal government retained revenue at N7.99 trillion.”

He added that total federal government proposed expenditure was pegged at N13.58 trillion and fiscal deficit at N5.60 trillion.

Also, the Senate approved N4.28 trillion as new borrowings (including foreign and domestic borrowing); statutory transfers at N484.4 billion; debt service N3.12 trillion; Sinking Fund N220 billion; pension, gratuities and retirees benefits N520.6 billion; total FGN expenditure N13.58 trillion; and total recurrent (non-debt) N5.66 trillion.

The upper legislative chamber put the personnel costs for ministries, departments and agencies of government, MDAs at N3.05 trillion; capital expenditure (exclusive of transfers) at N3.58 trillion; special intervention (recurrent) N350 billion; and special intervention (capital) – N20 billion.