PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari unveiled a proposal to spend N6.8 trillion in 2017, with debt servicing put at N1.6 trillion

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to spend N6.8 trillion in 2017, with debt servicing put at N1.6 trillion

.This was based on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework read‎ on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.According to the MTEF, oil bench mark was put $42.50 per barrel, with production projected to be 2.2 million barrels per day and an exchange rate of N290 to a dollar.According to the MTEF, N65 billion will be spent on the Amnesty programme comparedto N20 billion budgeted for the same project in 2016.N350 billion will also be spent on Special Intervention Programmes in 2017 compared to N300 billion earmarked in 2016.The MTEF reads in part: “Provision in the MTEF are drawn‎ from the government’s development priorities over the medium term, and more specifically, driven by its fiscal strategy and reflect the broad aggregates of the government’s annual budget over the period.“The aggregates revenue to the fund the 2017 Budget is projected to increase over the 2016 estimates of N3.855 trillion by about 8 percent (or about N313 billion). 33 percent of this is to come from oil sources while the balance is derivable from non-oil sources – in consonance with the government renewed focus on diversification of its revenue base.“The planned aggregates expenditure is estimated to exceed the provision of N6.6 trillion in the 2016 budget by 13.3 percent (orabout N806 billion).”

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