President Muhammadu Buhari, Wednesday wrote the National Assembly, seeking permission to present the 2016 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the Senate and House Representatives on December 22.
This is also as the senate, Wednesday, approved the 2016, 2017, 2018 Medium Term and Expenditure Framework (MTEF) submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari last week.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi, disclosed this while briefing reporters in Abuja.
Sabi said the Senate considered the request of the President and granted him permission to present the 2016 budget on December 22 as requested.
The presidential memo for the presentation of the 2016 budget came just as the Senate on Wednesday approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) submitted to the National Assembly.
The consideration and approval of the MTEF paves the way for the presentation of the annual Appropriation Bill.
The Senate retained the $38 per barrel oil benchmark as proposed by the executive.
The lawmakers also approved the exchange rate of N197 to $1 as proposed by the Presidency.
In approving the MTEF, the Senate endorsed the $38 per barrel oil benchmark as proposed by the executive. It also approved the exchange rate of N197 to $1 as proposed in the MTEF.
The upper chamber also urged the federal government to open a single salary account for its employees to reduce personnel cost.
The approval of the benchmark by Senate as proposed has created doubts regarding the practicability of the budget in view of the further slump of the global price of crude oil to $36 per barrel on Monday from the $40 per barrel rate when the document was approved.
The Senate also approved the projection of 2.2000 daily oil production volume in 2016 as proposed by the executive. It also approved the N5.720 billion non-oil revenue projection for 2016 fiscal year.
The approval was sequel to the report of the Joint Senate Committee on Finance and National Planning presented by its Chairman, Senator John Eno.
