Reps approve 2012-2023 MTEF/FSP


Ahead of the reported plan by President Muhammadu Buhari to lay the 2021 budget before the National Assembly next week, the House of Representatives on Wednesday, approved the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP).

Some details of projections for the 2021 fiscal year as presented before the House by the joint committee on finance, appropriations, national planning and economic development, oil production has been put at 1.86 million barrels per day, at an international crude oil benchmark price of $40 per barrel.

The exchange rate has been projected at $379 to the naira, a GDP growth projection of 3.00 percent, and an inflation rate at 11:95 percent.

Other fiscal parameters in the document include a planned new borrowing (both domestic and foreign) of N4.28 trillion, special interventions (recurrent) of N350 billion, special interventions (capital) of N20 billion, and a projected fiscal deficit of N5.20 trillion.

Further giving insights into the committee’s projections, its leader and Chairman of the finance committee, Hon. James Faleke, disclosed that the total federal government aggregate expenditure was projected at N13.08 trillion.

The committee in its report however accused majority of revenue generating agencies of engaging in “arbitrary and frivolous expenditure, making it difficult to determine actual federal government revenue, with a large percentage of these expenditure including huge paternal costs that was difficult to reconcile with the number of staff on their nominal payroll”.

It has tasked the House to therefore as a matter of urgency, commence the process of amending the laws establishing revenue generating agaencies, to conform with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, as well as the Act itself in section 21 and 22 with the current expenditure to revenue ratio as issued by the presidency in a circular.

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