Jonathan To Present 2013 Budget On October 4

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will on Thursday, October 4, present the 2013 Federal Government spending plan to the National Assembly, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs.)
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said.
Speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Friday,
Okonjo-Iweala said the key assumptions of the
2013 Budget are: Crude oil production of 2.48
million barrels per day; Crude oil price of $75 per
barrel and GDP growth rate of 6.85 per cent.
The cheery information comes even as the
Finance Minister disclosed that the 2012 Budget,
which the National Assembly has been bickering
over its implementation, has attained 45.2 per
cent of actual execution from April this year when
the Budget execution began.
She said a total of N710.4 billion has so far been
disbursed for the first three quarters of the year.
Out of this amount, she revealed that the sum of
N553.2 billion, representing 58 per cent of the
released sum has been cash-backed, while the
sum of N320.9 billion, representing 45.2 per cent
of the cash-backed releases has been drawn down
by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)
for execution of projects. The sum of N1.3 trillion
was appropriated as Capital Votes for the 2012 Plan.
Already, the draft copy of the 2013 Budget is
ready for presentation to the President for review
and approval before its presentation to the
National Assembly in October.