The National Assembly in Nigeria has passed the 2016 budget of 6.06 trillion Naira. The budget passed on Wednesday by the Senate and the House of Representatives was 17 billion Naira lower than the figure of 6.07 trillion Naira presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly in December.
Addressing reporters after the passage of the budget, the chairmen of Appropriation Committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives said that for the first time, the National Assembly had reduced the size of the aggregate expenditure, consequently reducing the total recurrent expenditure, deficit and borrowing plan.
The Senate Committee on Appropriation had earlier presented a budget of 6.06 trillion Naira to the Senate for passage.
In its report, the Committee set recurrent expenditure at 2.6 trillion Naira, capital expenditure at 1.5 trillion Naira and fiscal deficit at 2.2 trillion Naira.
It observed that the executive presented the budget late to the National Assembly and this had subsequently delayed the passage.