…As Saraki tasks FG on policy consistency
The
National Assembly, yesterday, said it has extended the life of the 2017
budget to May 31, 2018, as it is obvious that the 2018 Appropriation
Bill cannot be passed by March 31, when the life of the budget is
expected to elapse.
This is coming as the President of the
Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki tasked the executive arm of government on
the need to ensure clarity and consistency in its policies, to see how
it would add up to its financial projections for 2018.
Saraki stated this while speaking at a
joint public hearing on the 2018 Appropriation Bill organised by the
Senate and House Committees on Appropriation.
Chairman of the House of Representatives
Committee on Appropriations, Dawaki Mustapha, who made the disclosure at
a public hearing, said the parliament has already notified the
Accountant General of the Federation on the development.
According to him, “we are told that the
office of the Accountant General is expected to close the account as at
March ending. So, we have written a letter, yesterday, drawing his
attention to the fact that the budget should be extended to May 31.”
Saraki said in the interrogation of the
2018 Appropriation Bill, the National Assembly chose to place more
emphasis on getting the revenue projections right. He said it was
important to set realistic revenue projections to achieve, especially as
past projections have fallen below targets.
According to him, “we are concerned about
government-owned enterprises whose operating surpluses have always been
significantly lower than projections. Invariably, over the years, the
performance of independent revenues has fallen short by at least 50 per
cent.
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