Senate Sets Oil Benchmark at $40 Per Barrel and Naira-US Dollar Exchange Rate at N379/US$

The Senate has pegged crude oil at $40 per barrel and the foreign exchange rate for the Naira-United States Dollar at N379 in the just approved 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP).

The 2021 Appropriation Bill would be predicated on the MTEF/FSP fiscal document parameters.

The approval was after the positive report from the Joint Committee of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Senator Solomon Ademola, the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, said the report of the two chambers was their combined position following a careful examination of the differences contained in the 2021-2023 MTEF/FSP document.

The committee also put Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Growth rate at 3 percent, inflation rate at 11.95 percent and FGN revenue at N7.99 trillion.

Federal Government’s total expenditure was pegged at N13.58 trillion while the Fiscal deficit was estimated at N5.60 trillion.

Ademola added that new borrowing was projected at N4.28 trillion for both local and foreign while statutory transfers was predicted at N484.4 billion and debt servicing at N3.12 trillion.