BREAKING NEWS, Business
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The Nigeria government spends N3-577 trillion out of the N6.06 trillion it budgeted in 2016
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Dec 5, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT |
With less than six weeks to the end of the year, the federal government has spent about N3.577 trillion as at September out of the N6.06 trillion that was budgeted for the 2016 fiscal year. This translates to a 79 percent performance recorded by the budget.
In a keynote speech at the KPMG CFO’s Forum in Lagos on Monday, November 21, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, minister of budget and national planning, said the figure showed the performance of the budget for the first three quarters of the year. “In addition to the total of N2.44 trillion so far released for capital expenditure, non-debt recurrent and service-wide vote expenditure, a total of N1.138 trillion has also been paid out in domestic and foreign debt service expenditures.
“This includes N44 billion transferred to the sinking fund to retire maturing obligations. After liberalisation of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol, in May this year, consumption dropped by about 30 percent, resulting in a savings of $4.5 million a day from the elimination of false subsidy claims. There is no doubt that we need the revenues from oil to get out of oil dependence. We are determined therefore to restore the health of the oil industry. With regard to oil production, we have intensified the use of dialogue to reduce the disruptions to oil production in the Niger- Delta,” he said.
The minister noted that the country has experienced a tough time this year, but expressed optimism for better economy realities come 2017. “Generally, revenues are down and have impacted on our ability to fund the 2016 budget, particularly the capital expenditure component of the budget. Oil revenues are down and non-oil revenues are also down. Many of the goods and services produced locally are dependent on imported inputs. The collapse of the oil sector has therefore resulted in a contraction in the non-oil sector and, consequently, the revenues that government expected to receive from these sources.”
Udoma said the lessons learnt from recent challenges was that it is important to build up fiscal buffers, undertake an aggressive investment driven model and diversify from reliance on oil and gas for foreign exchange earnings and government revenue. “We have made our immediate priority to stimulate and revitalise the economy, as we are constantly look at ways to develop and build social safety nets to mitigate the effects of currency weakness and re-pricing of petroleum products.
“Also, we have taken the decision to avoid laying people off and are focusing instead on increasing non-oil revenues and ensuring greater transparency and efficiency in the use of available resources. The desire to stimulate demand by putting money in peoples’ hands motivated our three interventions to assist states and local governments to pay staff salaries and wages.”
On the social investment programmes, he said about N500 billion was voted in the 2016 budget, adding that while full implementation will not be realistic in 2016, government expects to be in a position to fully meet the objectives of the programme in 2017.
Udoma noted that the Strategic Implementation Plan, SIP, set aside by the federal government was already yielding positive results, as reforms in agriculture have started yielding fruit as there has been noticeable growth in that sector. “This welcome growth will help us to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves of self-sufficiency in rice by 2018 and wheat by 2019, and to become a net exporter of a number of other agricultural products over the medium term.”
He also revealed that the 2017 Appropriation Bill was almost ready. “The good news is that it is almost ready. We are almost through with our consultations with the National Assembly on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, and the outlines of the 2017 Budget, and will soon be submitting it to the National Assembly for their consideration.
“Without giving anything away, I can assure you that the Budget will be targeted at stimulating private sector investment. The government believes that it is only by partnering with the private sector that we can propel the economy out of recession and onto the path of sustainable growth.”
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