This is an increase of $2.5 from the $76.5 proposed by the executive and adopted by the Senate for the same period.
The House also adopted an average exchange rate of $160/N1 for the same period under review, as well as 30 percent for corporate tax and five percent for value added tax (VAT).
These were contained in the report of the joint committees on finance, appropriation , legislative budget and research and aids, loans and debt management on the 2014-2016 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
In adopting the recommendations of the report on the MTEF and FSP , chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumin Jubril, said the lawmakers also fixed the average crude oil production at 2,3883, 2,5007, and 2,5497 million barrels per day for 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.
They recommended that “the government should strengthen and consolidate its fiscal strategy to narrow the gap between projected and actual revenue for the period 2014-2016 curtailing oil theft and diversifying the economy to increase tax bases so as to increase tax revenue.”
The House also recommended that “the details of SURE-P projects to be executed be attached as an addendum to the annual budget estimates for approval by the National Assembly.”
On the excess crude account (ECA),the lawmakers approved that ‘the sum of N666.9bn from the excess crude account be distributed to the tiers of government as proposed by the executive” and “augmentation from the ECA should be projected if crude production falls below the price budgeted, provided there are funds in the account.”
Saint Mugaga,Abuja
