BREAKING NEWS, Politics
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THE federal government on Monday said it would change its fiscal policy by ensuring that government expenditure is linked to sound economic strategy so that Nigerians would begin to experience maximum impact of its programs.
It said the current economic challenges facing the country had made it imperative for agencies of government to prepare their Medium Term Sector Strategy to guide the allocation of scarce resources available for implementation of capital projects.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Fatima Mede, disclosed this in Abuja while speaking at a sensitization workshop on the MTSS for Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government.
The event which marked the flag-off of the 2017-2017 MTSS and the 2017 budget preparation process was attended by Permanent Secretaries, Heads of Department and agencies as well as other key technical experts responsible or the preparation of the budget in MDAs.
Mede said the need to deepen the planning process in the country as well as ensure that plans are aligned to government spending necessitated the workshop. She said while resources to implement the budget remained scarce owing to revenue shortfall, the MTSS would enable government set the fundamental parameters for effective monitoring and evaluation of projects.
She said, “We are facing challenging economic times as commodity prices, especially oil prices are declining with negative consequences on revenue. Our fiscal policy must therefore change to ensure that expenditure is linked to sound strategy for maximum impact on the common man on the street.
“This has necessitated the urgent need for MDAs to prepare their MTSS document to guide the allocation of the scarce resources available for implementation of capital projects to ensure value for money on government spending.”
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, while speaking at the workshop said the event would enable government to capture new initiatives that would help in achieving its developmental objectives.
In a bid to ensure more efficient and effective investment of resources to critical sectors of the economy, he said the focus would now be on 14 ministries that have large capital spending.
They are ministries of transportation; power works and housing; interior; water resources; solid minerals; health; agriculture; Niger Delta Affairs; education; defence Federal Capital Territory; environment; science and technology and communication technology. – Punch
— Aug 15, 2016 @ 18:40 GMT
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