Unic Press UK: The 2018 Budget plan of ₦9 trillion has been transmitted to the executive arm of government by the lawmakers.
In a statement Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari senior special assistant (National Assembly Matters), Senator Ita Enang, said: “I have received the budget and I am transmitting it to President Buhari”, the Voice of Nigeria reported.
It is unclear whether President Muhammadu Buhari will sign into law the 2018 budget as passed by the National Assembly, taking into account that an aide to the Minister of Budget and National Planning had, a few days’ ago, raised doubts in the light of the lawmakers’ unilateral decision to rejig the initial plan of the executive arm by increasing the amount proposed by the executive by ₦500 billion. The minister’s Special Adviser on Media, James Akpandem, who spoke to The Sun, said:
“When we see the details, we will be in a better position to know how they came about it. We will see if they have discovered another revenue stream, which we were not aware of, or just relying on increased crude oil price,” the minister’s Special Adviser on Media, James Akpandem said in an interview with The Sun.
Nigeria – Economic Indicators & Other Information
- Consumer Price Index (CPI): The CPI which measures inflation increased 14.33 percent (year-on-year) in February 2018, illustrating a 0.8 percent points lower than the rate recorded in January 2018 (15.13). [National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria]
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP): $404.65 billion as of 2016. [World Bank].
- GDP per capita: $2,175.67 as of 2016. [World Bank].
- Total National Debt: ₦21.725 trillion [$70.99 billion] at 31st December 2017.
- Unemployment: “The unemployment rate increased from 14.2% in Q4 2016 to 16.2% in Q2 2017 and 18.8% in Q3 2017”, the country’s Bureau of Statistics said in its report ‘Labor Force Statistics Vol. 1: Unemployment and Underemployment Report (Q1-Q3 2017)’of December 2017.
- Population: 185.98 million as of 2016. [World Bank]. The current estimate is 195 million based on Live update as of 15 May 2018.
- The total land area is circa 910,770 Km2. [World Bank].
- Life expectancy at birth [2015]: 52.9 years as of 2015. [World Bank].
- Central Bank of Nigeria official exchange rate $1= ₦305.85
