National Assembly to pass 2016 Budget March 17

The Joint Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives on Appropriations on Wednesday assured Nigerians that the N6.08tn for this year budget would be passed on March 17, 2016.

 

Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma

The committees stated that the final report on the appropriation bill would be laid on the floor of both chambers of the National Assembly on March 16 for consideration and subsequent passage the following day.

Both panels had earlier said that the February 25 date for the passage of the budget was no longer realistic due to errors and padding.

Nigeria 2016 Budget: FG to spend N221.7bn on Health Sector

 

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said N221.7 billion would be spent on health sector in 2016 as part of the initiative to improve the health care delivery to Nigerians. Buhari said this while presenting the 2016 budget to the joint National Assembly session in Abuja. He said that N369.6 billion was set aside for education sector as against N294.5 billion earmarked for defence, while the Ministry of Interior would receive N145.3 billion.

 

The president said the money allocated to the three critical sectors would facilitate payment of personnel remunerations in the critical sectors. He said that 2016 borrowings would principally be directed to fund capital projects as N113 billion would be set aside as a sinking fund towards the retirement of matured loans.

Buhari said N1.36 trillion had been provided for foreign and domestic debt servicing, and emphasised the need for prudent management of debt portfolio and deployment of foreign exchange earnings. According to him, the 2016 budget represents a major step in delivering a new opportunity for Nigeria.