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By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA, June 11 (Reuters) - Nigeria's upper house of
parliament passed an increased budget for 2020 on Thursday, as
Africa's biggest economy tackles the new coronavirus pandemic
and a sharp fall in the price of oil, the country's most
valuable export.
The government had planned to reduce its initial record 2020
budget, but the revised 10.8 trillion naira ($30 billion) plan
approved by the Senate and passed by the lower house a day
earlier, is now above the amount President Muhammadu Buhari had
agreed to in December. It is also 300 billion naira larger than the revised budget
plan Buhari had submitted to parliament, and it increases the
projected oil price by $3 per barrel. The spending plan must now be sent back to the president to
pass into law after he has agreed to any changes.
The budget assumes oil production at 1.9 million barrels per
day (bpd). Oil prices have recovered from a 20-year low of just
under $16 per barrel hit in March.
However, Nigeria has also agreed to limit its oil output to
1.412 million bpd as part of a deal with the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers. That
agreement was extended through the end of July. ($1 = 361.0000 naira)