House of Reps Passes 2020 Budget For Second Reading

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the 2020 Appropriation Bill for second reading after two days of debate.

Naija News reports that President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday presented the 2020 national budget estimated at N10.3trillion to a joint sitting of the National Assembly.

Speaking on the budget estimates, Buhari revealed that the nation’s Gross Domestic Product has grown from 1.93 per cent in 2018 to 2.02 per cent in the first half of 2019 and the external reserves rose from $23bn in October 2016 to ~$42bn in Sept 2019.

The president promised that his government will raise the threshold for VAT registration to N25m turnover per annum, to bring relief to small(est) businesses.

Other issues captured in the budget is the increment for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) revenue from N1.5 billion to N2.5 billion.

N2.46 trillion is proposed for capital projects.

After extensive debate on Thursday, a majority of the lawmakers, using voice vote, passed the 2020 budget for second reading.

The Deputy Speaker subsequently referred the bill to the committee on Appropriation and other relevant standing committees of the House.