From Nasiru Marmara & Atiku Sarki, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday presented the 2022 Federal budget proposal to the joint session of the National Assembly.
The president, while presenting the 2022 budget before the National Assembly members, said the document would be the last full-year budget to be implemented by his administration.
According to him, the budget was designed to build on the achievements of previous budgets, saying it would “deliver on our goals and aspirations as will be reflected in our soon to be launched National Development plan of 2021 to 2025.
” Highlighting of the 2021 performance as well as its proposals for 2021, the president stressed that the 2021 budget of Economic Recovery and Resilience was based on a benchmark oil price of 40 US Dollars per barrel, oil production of 1.6m b/d and exchange rate of 379 Naira to US Dollars. Furthermore, he said, a supplementary budget of N982, 73 billion was recently enacted to address exigent issues in the security and health sectors. Based on the 2021 fiscal framework, President Buhari explained that the total revenue of N8.12 trillion was projected to fund aggregate Federal Expenditure of N14.57 trillion (inclusive of the supplementary budget).
The projected fiscal deficit of N6.45trillion or 4.52 per cent of GDP, he said, is expected to be financed mainly by domestic and external borrowing.
He explained that his administration has stepped up implementation framework for performance management of government owned enterprises (GOEs), with a view to improving their operational efficiencies, revenue generation and accountability.
The 50 per ecnt cost-to-income ratio imposed on the GOEs in the Finance Act 2020, according to him, has contributed significantly to rationalizing wasteful expenditures by several GOEs and enhance the level of operating surpluses to be transfers to the consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
He however, said that: “Despite our revenue challenges, we have consistently met our debt service commitment and up to date on the payment of staff salaries, their statutory transfers and overhead cost. “I am pleased to inform you that we expect to fund MDAs, capital budget fully by the end of the fiscal year 2021,” said the president.
The 2022 appropriation, he said, is a budget of Economic Growth and sustainability. He added: “The budget is also first in our history where MDAs were clearly advised on gender responsive budgeting.”
He said that these are part of critical steps in their efforts to distribute resources fairly and react to vulnerable groups in the society. Read the full text of the president’s budget speech on pages 38 and 39.
