The Nigerian Government has said that it will not implement the 2011 Appropriation Bill, passed 16 March, 2011, by the National Assembly, saying it cannot be implemented now.
Local media reported that the budget, as passed by the National Assembly, was 745 billion naira higher than the 4.221 trillion naira proposal submitted by President Goodluck Jonathan 5 December, 2010.
President Jonathan based his estimates on crude oil benchmark of US$ 65 per barrel while the lawmakers, in passing the budget, raised the oil price benchmark to US$ 75 per barrel, basing their action on the rising price of crude oil in the international market.
The National Assembly jacked up its allocations for capital and recurrent expenditure by 52.2 per cent to 232.74 billion naira although the president had proposed 111.24 billion naira.
Reacting to the Appropriation Bill Wednesday, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, observed that it was difficult to comment on the budget at this stage on account of the fact that the presidency was yet to receive details from the National Assembly.
However, he said based on the information available, there were areas of concern such as the level of deficit, the level of borrowing, among others, for the Federal Government.
“The 2011 budget is supposed to signal the beginning of fiscal consolidation, but we now have another expansionary budget which is unimplementable. If we are to build our economy on a solid foundation and avoid the boom and burst of the past, it is critical that we embrace discipline in the way we manage public finances. We cannot continue like this,” the minister said.
On the way out of the logjam, he said, “I will be advising that we engage with the National Assembly to resolve these areas of concern. We have always had a very good relationship with the relevant National Assembly committees. So, I am optimistic that we can resolve these areas of concern very quickly.”
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Wednesday adopted new measures aimed at protecting the naira against exchange rate risk exposure with the implementation of Wholesale Dutch Auction System Forwards (WDAS-FWD).
The regulator disclosed this in a circular titled: “Guideline for the Operation of the Foreign Exchange Market: Wholesale Dutch Auction System Forwards (WDAS-FWD),” signed by the its Director, Financial Markets Department, Mr. O.F. Owolabi, and made available on its website.
The banking watchdog explained that the move was consistent with its objectives of enhancing efficiency in the forex market and deepening trading liquidity and risk management in the market
