The Nigerian parliament on Thursday approved a 4.6 trillion naira (31-billion-dollar) budget for 2010 based on a benchmark oil price of 67 dollars per barrel.
The new budget shows a 13.3 percent increase from the original proposal of 4.079 trillion sent to the parliament by President Umaru Yar’Adua last November shortly before he was struck by a heart ailment.
It will be sent to Acting President Goodluck Jonathan for final assent.
Reflecting a 10 billion dollar rise from last year, this year’s budget is predicated on a 67-dollar price per barrel of oil and an output of 2.35 million barrels per day.
The budget forecast an exchange rate of 1560 naira to the greenback.
A weaker dollar tends to lift oil demand because dollar-priced crude becomes cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies.
The original proposal had been based on oil benchmark price of 57 dollars a barrel.
The planned budget also anticipates a 5.47 percent growth rate and 11.2 percent inflation rate.
A net revenue of 3.086 trillion naira is projected with the deficit of 1.521 trillion naira to be financed from proceeds of sales of government properties, oil blocks, international bonds and domestic borrowing.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and the world’s eighth oil exporter, currently produces a little over two million barrels a day.