The Senate has approved the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
The lawmakers gave the nod following a debate that lasted about two hours on Thursday at the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly in Abuja.
This followed the presentation of the report on the 2020-2022 MTEF FSP by the Senate Committee on Finance.
Shortly after Senator Solomon Adeola made the submission, the lawmakers passed all the recommendations in the report.
Some of the recommendations passed include the adoption of 2.18 MBPD as the daily production output in 2020.
The lawmakers also adopted the sum of $57 per barrel as crude oil benchmark price, as well as an exchange rate of N305 to a dollar for the 2020 fiscal year.
Also, the Senate passed a resolution that the saving on income accruing from the increase of the benchmark amounting to 172 billion be used to pay salaries and emolument of the proposed N30,000 new employees.
Shortly before the report was adopted, Senator Gabriel Suswam urged the committee to critically look into the issue of budget deficits.
He said, “We should look at the production sharing contract because we have been short-changed. We need to look into it so we can adequately fund our budgets
On his part, Senator Ibikunle Amosun believes Nigeria is on the path of greatness and will be great.
He, however, stressed that there was a need to improve revenue to fund projects and address the issue of borrowing.
The senator said, “We should change this mono-economy we are currently running. The enabler of development is infrastructure. If we must borrow, it must be for capital projects.”
Others who contributed to the debate were Senator Abdullahi Yahaya, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, Senator George Sekibo, and Senator Ayo Akinyelure among others.
The Senate, thereafter, approved the recommendations of the Committees on Finance and National Planning on the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
In his remarks, the Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan, informed his colleagues that there was a need for diversification in various sectors of the nation’s economy.
“We need to have an economy that provides jobs and creates wealth. We must ensure that our procurement process is well monitored.
“There must be efficiency and prudence in the way we do procurement,” the Senate President said.
