Buhari Requests NASS To Approve 2019-2021 Expenditure

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, forwarded the 2019-2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) to the National Assembly for approval.

The move, THE WHISTLER reports, is ahead of the presentation of the 2019 Budget proposals to the National Assembly.

Buhari’s request was contained in two separate letters he addressed to the Senate President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara.

Buhari, in the letter, which was read on the floor of the Senate by Saraki, appealed to the lawmaker to expeditiously consider and approval of the document.

“I write to submit the 2019-2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) to the Distinguished Senate.

“Pursuant to provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, the preparation towards submission of the 2019 Budget to the National Assembly is progressing well. The MTEF and FSP were prepared against the backdrop of a generally uncertain global economic environment; as well as fiscal challenges in the domestic economy to ensure that planned spending is set at prudent and sustainable levels and is consistent with Government’s overall development objectives and inclusive growth.

“I hereby forward the 2019-2021 MTEF and FSP to the Distinguished Senate, and trust that it would be expeditiously considered in order to bring the 2019 FGN Budget preparation process to timely closure,” the letter read.

The Whistler NG recalls that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had, on Wednesday, October 24, 2018, in Abuja, approved the 2019-2021 MTEF, which consists of N8.7 trillion budget proposal for the 2019 fiscal year.

The MTEF and FSP provide the framework for the 2019 Budget, which members of the National Assembly are expected to debate and approve before the presentation of the 2019 Budget to the joint session of the nation’s apex assembly by the President.

It would be recalled that the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, and the Director-General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, had publicly unveiled a draft of the 2019-2021 MTEF and FSP last week.

They explained that the Federal Government would reduce the 2019 Budget from N9.1 trillion this year to N8.7 trillion in 2019.

The key parameters of the 2019 Budget are premised on an oil production volume of 2.3 million barrels per day at $60 per barrel, exchange rate of N305 per dollar, inflation rate of 9.98 percent and a nominal GDP rate of 3.0 percent.

Also while N6.9 trillion has been projected as available to fund the budget, debt service for the same fiscal year is estimated at N2.1 trillion.

Other key highlights for the 2019 Budget from the MTEF and FSP document include: Share of oil revenue N3.6 trillion, independent revenue N624 billion, statutory transfer N506 billion, sinking fund N220 billion, recurrent (non-debt) N4.7 trillion, aggregate capital expenditure N2.7 trillion among others.