The Federal Executive Council met on Wednesday and approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework for the 2017-2019 fiscal years, signalling the beginning of the 2017 budget process.

Budget and National Planning Minister Udoma Udoma disclosed this to State House reporters after the four-hour FEC meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The minister said this approval kick-started the process of the 2017 budget.

He put the oil benchmark projections as follows: 2017, $42.5 per barrel; 2018, $45; and 2019, $50.

Udoma added that the government also projected a “conservative” exchange rate N290 to a dollar, with the expectation that the Nara would stabilise.

He said the government consulted widely with the private sector, governors and experts before arriving at the framework.

Asked whether the meeting discussed the emergency powers the president was reported to have sought to reflate the economy, the minister said nothing like that was discussed.

On the implementation of the 2016 budget, he said while the government had so fat released over N400 billion for capital expenditure, it was up to date in terms of recurrent expenditure.

•Sourced from Daily Trust. Photo shows Udoma Udoma.

Update news