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$27 Benchmark for 2005 Budget ‘Significant’ Increase – Senate
From Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja, 12.13.2004
The Senate Committee on Appropriation and Finance chairman, Senator John Azuta-Mbata, at the weekend disclosed that the $27 per band benchmark on which the 2005 Budget, predicated would be increased ‘significantly’ to accommodate proposed deficit in the appropriation. Azuta-Mbata, who revealed this during an interactive session with newsmen at the weekend, however, did not disclose the range of the ‘significant’ increase but THISDAY gathered that 2005 Budget benchmark could be between $30 - $35 per barrel. According to him, “at the submission of all the sub-committees on appropriation reports which would see increment in some sub-heads of government and decrement in others, we are likely to see a global increase in capital and personnel costs. “It’s likely that if expenditure increases significantly, we may tamper with that in order for the deficit level to managed properly. We are quite worried about the deficit level. I don’t have the figure (of increase in benchmark) now but I’ve an idea because we don’t want to leave a wide hole in the budget. “We would look for other avenues of funding the deficit but other finance aspects may not be as reliable as increasing the benchmark because means like sale of government property, privatization proceeds and recovered loot have proved unreliable in the past. “We didn’t rely too much on that in 2004 but I wouldn’t know if anything came in through those sources but since the budget has not ended, we are still expecting something. However it’s the exigencies of the expenditure profile that would determine the final benchmark. “It’s likely that it would be significantly higher than the $27 benchmark on which the 2005 Budget has been predicated,” Azuta-Mbata explained. “We are also watching the price level in the global oil price keenly. We also note the volatility in the oil price and it’s something that we need to watch when we are determining the benchmark so that we can predicated on reliable figure and be able to fund the budget.” Admitting knowledge of the resolution of the executive arm to increase the N1.6 trillion budget proposal for 2005, he added that, “ we are awaiting the details but it’s important that the public should know that increasing the budget in the middle of December would affect the processing plans. “The problems we are having are basically in the areas of personnel cost. We have accumulated shortfalls in virtually all ministries and departments but we have raised the matter with the Budget Office and they have raised a desk to address that. Apart from the 2004 incidence, we have also noticed the trend in the 2005 Appropriation,” he said.
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