2019 Budget May Be Difficult To Implement – FG

2019 Budget May Be Difficult To Implement – FG

An increase of N90.3 billion added to 2019 budget by the National Assembly will make implementation of this year’s budget a herculean task, the Federal Government has hinted.

The executive arm had sent a budget estimate of N8.83 trillion to the National Assembly for approval, but the legislature approved N8.92 trillion.

Speaking at 2019 budget presentation in Abuja, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said government was in a fix on how to raise additional N102.84 billion to bridge the funding gap created in the 2019 budget as a result of the increase of N90.3 billion by the National Assembly.

Udoma said additional figure by the National Assembly has raised budgetary deficits by N58.83 billion; a situation, he said, could put government under pressure of looking for means of containing arising deficit.

“National Assembly increased the budget size from N8.83 trillion to N8.92 trillion, translating to an increase of N90.3 billion. This resulted in an overall increase of N58.83 billion in deficit.

“Inexplicably, NASS reduced the proposed borrowing from N1.649 trillion to N1.605 trillion thus creating an overall unfunded deficit of N102.83 billion. To fully fund the budget, the level of borrowing may therefore have to increase.”

This was as government put its expected total revenues at N7 trillion to fund the 2019 budget. The estimate comprises N3.69 trillion from oil revenue, N3.31 trillion from non-oil revenues, while the deficit of N1.92 trillion would be financed mainly by borrowing N1.605 trillion split equally between the domestic and foreign markets.

The 2019 spending expenditure is expected to be N8.92 trillion. Recurrent non-debt expenditure is pegged at N4.07 trillion; Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs’) capital and capital supplementation is N2.09 trillion; while debt service at N2.14 trillion, is 31 per cent of expected revenues.
Capital expenditure, inclusive of transfers GOEs capital and project-tied loans as of percentage of total FGN expenditure is 31 per cent.
The minister regretted that allocations to key projects were cut while new ones, mainly constituency projects, were introduced.