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Nigerian Senate cuts down 2016 national budget

Xinhua, March 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday cut down the West African country's national budget to 30.4 billion U.S. dollars for the year 2016.

The passage of the budget followed its presentation on Tuesday by a committee of national legislators who were given the task of vetting the proposal of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari presented the budget proposal last December, calling for the support of the legislative arm of government for its quick passage.

After considering its conference report on the budget, the Nigerian Senate said it did not approve the original 30.5 billion U.S. dollars presented by the president to show "discipline" on its own part and to reflect "the mood of the country and the world".

The Nigerian Senate, however, adopted 38 dollars per barrel crude oil benchmark for the budget, as proposed by executive arm of government. It also adopted a foreign exchange rate of 197 to a dollar as proposed by the government.

This is the first time the legislative arm of government cut down proposed figures of the national budget since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999. Endit