TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the 2018 budget into law next week, Femi Adesina, his spokesman, has said.

Adesina disclosed this to state house correspondents on Wednesday after the federal executive council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.

He, however, did not specify the date.

“The budget will be signed next week,” he told journalists, adding: “We will give you the specific date when it is confirmed.”

Wednesday makes it one month the national assembly passed the N9.1 trillion appropriation bill.

Buhari had proposed N8.6 trillion but the lawmakers raised the budget by N500 billion. They also increased oil benchmark from $45 to $51 per barrel.

Other highlights of the budget are:

• N530,421,368,624 for statutory transfer;
• N2,203,835,365,699 for debt service;
• N3,512,677,902,077 for recurrent expenditure,
• N2,873,400,351,825 for capital expenditure,
• Fiscal deficit of N1,954,464,993,775
• 1.73 percent deficit to GDP.