The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, said that the 2014 budget envisaged a net collectible revenue of N7.50 trillion. Okonjo-Iweala, who is the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, said this at the public presentation of the 2014 budget, in Abuja. She said that N3.73 trillion of the expected collectible revenue would be used to fund the 2014 budget, which focuses on boosting job creation and inclusive growth.
“The budget has been underpinned by the parameter of oil benchmark of 2.39 million barrels per day compared to 2.53 million barrel per day in 2013. She said it was also underpinned by a “benchmark oil price of 77.5 dollar per barrel, projected real GDP growth of 6.75 per cent and average exchange rate of N160 per dollar. Based on this, the 2014 budget envisages a net federally collectible revenue of N7.50 trillion, out of which N3.73 trillion is expected to fund the Federal Government budget.
She said the figure represented a 9 per cent reduction from the N4.1 trillion in 2013. She said the budget reflected “a total of expenditure of N4.64 trillion representing about 7 per cent reduction from the N4.99 trillion budget in 2013. “It is made up of various categories of N399 billion for statutory transfer, N712 billion for debt servicing, N2.41 trillion recurrent non-debt expenditure and N1.25 trillion for capital expenditure,” she said. On key allocations, she said that N655.47 billion was allocated to Education sector, including UBEC and TETfund, while the Ministry of Defence got N340.33 billion. Similarly, she said the Ministry of Police Affairs, and the Police Service Commission got N301 billion.
According to her, the Federal Ministry of Health received N262.74 billion, while the Ministry of Works had N128. 65 billion. The minister said the ministerial allocation showed that the Federal Ministry of Power was allocated N102.45 billion, while the Federal Ministry of Agriculture received N66. 64 billion. “These amounts also leverage additional resources from the donor community which will add to our ability to implement the budget.
Okonjo-Iweala said N268.37 billion comprising Federal Government was budgeted for SURE-P in 2014. The minister said the fund was made up of savings from the partial removal of fuel subsidy of N180 billion augmented by 2013 unspent funds of about N88.37. According to her, the Federal Government aggregate spending of 2014 is estimated to rise to N4.91 trillion out of which N1.53 trillion set aside for capital expenditure. She said that fiscal deficit would rise marginally to about 1.9 per cent of the GDP in 2014 budget as against 1.85 per cent in 2013. The minister pointed out that the figure was within 3 per cent of GDP threshold stipulated in Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.
