Almost six months into the fiscal year, the Federal Government is still restating its objection to the 2011 Appropriation Bill by the National Assembly. The Presidency itself set the tone for the delay when it sent its proposals to the parliament only on December 15, 2010, just 16 days before the budget ought to come into effect. President Goodluck Jonathan had presented a budget estimate of N4.2 trillion for 2011, with crude oil price pegged at $65 per barrel.

Even as the legislators began to discuss the bill, federal officials were sending amendments and addenda to the initial N4.2 trillion estimate. Though the National Assembly finally passed the bill on March 16, it has since not been signed by Mr. President. The Presidency is equally contemplating presenting a supplementary budget to NASS, even while presidential assent to the N4.971 trillion 2011 budget hangs in the balance. Group Business Editor, ROTIMI DUROJAIYE, reports that Nigeria’s executive and the legislature have, for over a decade, been unserious in planning the national budget.

•Jonathan •Mark

2011 Appropriation Bill still in limbo

Director-general of the Budget Office based in the Presidency, Bright Okogwu, lamented recently that the impasse over the 2011 budget has lingered for long. He said because, unlike the original document with a deficit of three per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the legislators passed a N4.97 trillion budget, with the deficit being four per cent of GDP.

“The Minister of Finance (Olusegun Aganga) has said it is not implementable. We want to make it more implementable,” Okogwu said, adding that the Presidency and the National Assembly (NASS) have been discussing for some time, and both recognise the need to come back to a more realistic budget deficit level, because the Fiscal Responsibility Act stipulates the budget not exceed two per cent of GDP deficit level.

“Both sides recognise that this is the case. I am optimistic that even at preliminary discussions, we will arrive at something rewarding. I am optimistic because we both took this into account in terms of the pace of work we set out to do. Both sides recognise that this has to be sorted out before the new parliament comes into being. So we have a very tight target that we both recognise and we are working towards,” Okogwu stressed.

The DG spoke in Lagos at the launch of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s semi-annual sub-Saharan African Regional Economic Outlook.

He assured the gathering of IMF, Finance Ministry and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) officials, members of the private sector, and the media that even when the budget has not been signed, the law allows the government to spend a certain percentage of previous year’s budget meanwhile.

Aganga, represented at the forum by Danladi Kifasi, Permanent Secretary of the Finance Ministry, said Nigeria has a lot to learn from the global financial crisis which has taught other countries great lessons in terms of policies and interventions needed for macro-economic stability and growth.

He noted that Nigeria’s economy grew 7.85 per cent last year, higher than the estimated 3.9 per cent global growth rate and the 4.7 per cent average for sub-Saharan Africa.

With an average growth rate of 6.65 per cent over the last five years, Nigeria’s growth continues to out-perform those of many other economies.


Presidency plans supplementary budget

The Presidency is said to be contemplating presenting a supplementary budget to NASS, even while presidential assent to the N4.971 trillion 2011 budget hangs in the balance.

While details of the N4.971 main budget are yet to be fine-tuned, the supplementary one is expected to cater for what is left out of it.

Sources close to the Senate Appropriation Committee had told our sister publication, Daily Independent, last week that the NASS is looking forward to the extra budget, “though we have adjusted some figures in the 2011 budget which was passed into law two months ago.”

It was learnt that the delay in presenting the 2011 Appropriation Bill to President Jonathan for assent is due to the delay in transmission from NASS, which has now promised to sort out the remaining details and send it to him.

Asked why Nigeria has no current budget five months into the year, a presidential source explained that “the Constitution allows the president to authorise and expend funds up to six months in any fiscal year before a new budget comes into effect.

“The last budget expired in March, but Jonathan can spend at least 50 per cent of the total budget approved by the National Assembly for 2011.”

On resumption of plenary on May 3, the legislature explained that delay in signing the budget into law was due to some “details” being ironed out.

Senate spokesman, Ayogu Eze, confirmed to reporters that the review of the approved budget by lawmakers is legitimate in as much as Jonathan is yet to sign it.

His words: “I am aware that efforts are being made for the details of the 2011 Appropriation to be finalised, so that he (Jonathan) can sign it and possibly present a supplementary appropriation which the government has already hinted will come up.

“I am not aware that he (Jonathan) has refused to sign it, because the details were not even worked out before we went for election, and those details are being worked out before they sent it for his assent.

“The budget can only be reviewed if it is returned as a substantive bill. My understanding is that the supplementary appropriation can take care of whatever misgivings may arise in the budget.

“That is the way to cure whatever defect is in that budget. We are human beings; everybody was going for election and they wanted the budget passed. But we have found out that we need to do a supplementary appropriation; so we don’t have any problem with that.”


Fears over budget failure

Last March, Aganga warned that the 2011 budget passed by NASS is too unwieldy to be implemented. Aganga said the only way the Federal Government can implement the budget is by slicing off a chunk of the fiscal appropriation act recently approved by the lawmakers.

http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=34167