Presidency, N'assembly to rework 2011 budget

A RE-ADJUSTMENT of the Federal Government’s N4.9 trillion 2011 Budget which was passed late last March by the two chambers of the National Assembly is now ongoing, the Minster of Finance,  Olusegun Aganga has said.             .

President Goodluck Jonathan has refused till date  to sign the Appropriation Bill into law due to what Aganga described as ‘expansionary and an unimplementable budget’  passed by the National Assembly. The Executive Arm presented an estimated spending plan of N4.2 trillion, but the Legislature raised it to N4.9 trillion, thus eliciting the face- off between the two arms over implementation capabilities.


Aganga, who revealed the rejig exercise to reporters at the weekend while reacting to the passage of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) Bill by the Senate last week, said Presidency officials and the National Assembly members had met a number of times and would continue to meet until an implementable plan is achieved. He also maintained that the level of recurrent expenditure was high and a team to implement the report of a panel on the issue had been set up.               .
He said: “We have met a few times. We are reworking on the plan. I am sure very soon, it will be resolved. We maintain that the level of recurrent expenditure is unsustainable. We have already put a team in place to implement the recommendation of the committee on public expenditure and they are working to ensure implementation. Implementing the current budget as is very expensive. This is something that should be avoided. Budgets should be passed at the beginning of the year so that we can implement it.”          .
Aganga  had in last March said the Presidency was concerned about the level of deficit and consequent level of borrowing s amongst other things in the Budget as passed by the National Assembly.
“The 2011 budget is supposed to signal the beginning of fiscal consolidation, but we now have another expansionary budget, which is un-implementable. If we are to build our economy on a solid foundation and avoid the boom and burst of the past, it is critical that we embrace discipline in the way we manage public finances. We cannot continue like this.
“I will be advising that we engage with the National Assembly to resolve these areas of concern. We have always had a very good relationship with the relevant National Assembly committees. So, I am optimistic that we can resolve these areas of concern very quickly,” he had pointed out.        

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