PRESIDENT JONATHAN PRESENTS 2014 BUDGET TODAY TO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

President Goodluck Jonathan will today present the 2014 budget estimates of N4.77 trillion before the joint session of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Although the President had earlier asked the National Assembly to allow him present the budget on November 12, the presentation was cancelled due to the non-conclusion of 2014-2016 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), which had now been passed by both chambers with noticeable difference in crude oil benchmark. Already, there are visible differences in the figure of $74 per barrel of crude oil with $76.5 passed by the Senate and the $79 passed by the House last week Thursday. There are also indications that the President would be challenged as regards the poor implementation of the 2013 budget, which the house described as “Unimpressive’