Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has presented a record 10.33
trillion-naira ($33.8 billion) budget for 2020 to lawmakers, the first spending
plan since his re-election in February.
Buhari told lawmakers at a joint session of the upper and lower chambers of
parliament that the “economic environment remains challenging” but he said the
budget was expected to increase the pace of growth.
The spending plan, which includes a value-added tax increase from 5% to
7.5%, is up from the 8.83 trillion-naira budget for 2019 and tops the previous
record budget spending plan set by the 9.12 trillion-naira budget for 2018.
Buhari’s government has repeatedly rolled out record spending plans but
struggled to fund them because of lower oil production and an inability to
boost non-oil exports.
The budget must still be approved by parliament before being signed into
law by Buhari, a process that can take months.
