The Federal Government has projected N12,658,009,802,283.00 as 2021 budget estimate.

The government also projected N5.16trillion as the budget deficit for 2021 up from N4.98trillion in the 2020 budget.

This is contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) submitted to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.

The Federal Government also pegged the 2021 oil benchmark at $40 per barrel and an exchange rate of N360 to a dollar.

According to the document, the statutory transfers stand at N481billion, Debt Service is N3.124trillion, sinking fund of N220billion and recurrent expenditure of N5.7trillion.

The Federal Government also proposed a capital expenditure of N3.33trillion.

The Government also projected Stamp Duty to earn the country N500billion up from N200billion in 2020.

The Government noted of the 2021 budgeted expenditure, debt service is estimated at N3.124 trillion and provision for sinking fund to retire maturing bonds issued to local contractors/creditors is NN220billion.

A total of N4.31 trillion is provided for personnel and pension costs, an increase of N724.67billion over 2020.

Personnel Costs, it said, have continued to rise yearly, in great part due to unrestrained recruitment by several agencies of government, oftentimes without compliance with the due process.

The Government warned that at 70 per cent of projected revenues for 2021, this level of personnel cost is not sustainable.

It noted that having made these provisions, the aggregate amount available for capital expenditure in the 2021 budget is N3.33trillion which represents 26.3 per cent of total expenditure and it is 24 per cent higher than the 2020 provision of N2.69trillion.

The Government also projected oil production of 1.88million barrels per day for 2021 up from 1.80mbpd in the 2020 budget.

On budget deficit, which the government projected to be N5.16trillion in 2021, it noted:

“This represents 3.62 per cent of estimated GDP, well above the threshold of 3 per cent stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

“Unless we can find new revenue sources, given the limited scope for cost-cutting, it will not be feasible to keep budget deficits within the 3% target set in FRA 2007.”