Jonathan To Present 2013 Budget Next Week

President Goodluck Jonathan is to present the 2013 budget before a joint session of the National Assembly on October 4, 2012.

This was contained in a letter read by the President of the Senate, David Mark, at plenary session in Abuja, on Tuesday.

In the letter, President Jonathan expressed his desire to address a joint session of legislators on the said date.

The letter, which was addressed to the Senate President, read, “I write to crave your kind indulgence to grant me the slot of 12:00noon on Thursday, October 4, 2012, to enable me formally address a joint session of the National Assembly on the 2013 Budget.

“While thanking the Distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic for the constancy of their support, please accept, Distinguished Senate President, the assurance of my highest consideration.”

The Federal Government had, last week, presented a Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper preparatory to the budget presentation.

The 2013 budget proposal is anchored on the key goal of the 2013-2015 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, which is fiscal consolidation with growth and job creation.

Fundamentally, the focus of the Federal Government’s proposal in the budget is to make practical impact in areas that matter most to the Nigerian people.

The areas are job creation, power supply, road, rail, other infrastructure and agriculture.

The proposal shows that the 2013 budget is predicated on an assumption of crude oil production of 2.48 million barrels per day at $75 per barrel.

Similarly, it forecasts a Gross Domestic Growth rate of 6.85 per cent, while recurrent expenditure is expected to decline from 71.47 per cent in 2012 to 68.66 per cent in 2013.

Within the same period, capital expenditure is expected to rise from 28.53 per cent in 2012 to 31.34 per cent in 2013.

In the same vein, the proposal stated that the government was putting in place for the first time a “strong strategy to ensure a decline in fiscal deficit and borrowing from 2.85 per cent and N744.44bn in 2012 to 2.17 per cent and N727.19bn in 2013 respectively with further decline up to 2015.”