2020 Budget: Senate retains N360 dollar exchange rate, peg Oil Benchmark at $28

As against proposal by the presidency,the senate on Tuesday increased the oil benchmark from $25 to $28 per barrel. 
This is even as the Senate retained the exchange rate of N360 to US dollar,  14.43 inflation growth rate and 4.42 GDP growth rate.
The executive had proposed $25 oil price benchmark in the revised Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), which it had forwarded to the Senate for approval. 
The Senate has also reduced from 1.9million barrel per day to 1.8million barrel per day, oil production proposed by the executive in the MTEF/FSP documents.
The Senate, which considered and adopted the report of its committee on Finance, mandated to work on the revised MTEF/FSP documents by the executive said monies kept in the Natural Resources Development Accounts is a waste.

The Senate, took its decision during the consideration and adoption of the report of the Committee andretained some of the proposal. 
For instance N5.09 Trillion FGN’s revenue, N10 .51 trillion  proposed expenditure,  N4.95 Trillion fiscal deficit, N4.17 Trillion  new borrowings (including Foreign and domestic Borrowing were retained. 
Others are N398.5 Billion as Statutory transfers,  N2.68 Trillion for debt serving, N272.9 Billion as sinking fund,  N536.7 Billion for Pension and gratuities.
Critical components of the proposal as presented by the executive with adoption of N10.51 Trillion as total expenditure, N4.93 Trillion as total recurrent, N2.83 Trillion for personnel cost and N2.23 Trillion for capital expenditure, were also retained. 
Explaining why the oil benchmark was increased, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC Lagos West) said that it was as a result of the recent upward trend of the crude oil market which as today stood at $38 per barrel with a very strong expectation that the price will rise to as $40 to $45 per barrel.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, who presided over the plenary, in his remarks after the adoption of the report, urged the Senate Committee on Privatization to laise with the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) in ensuring that the projected N260 billion from proceeds of privatized agencies, is realised and accordingly used to fund the budget .
He frowned at some of the special accounts being kept  by the executive, particularly the Natural Resources Development Accounts, adding that “keeping monies in Natural Resources Development Accounts is more of waste than serving critical purposes,” expecially now that money is scarce.
The President of the Senate, however, adjourned sitting to Tuesday next week for consideration and possible passage of the revised N10.509 trillion 2020 budget.