The Federal Government (FG) is concluding the proposed 2020
budget appropriation bill which will be submitted to the National Assembly by
the end of September 2019.
The disclosure was reportedly made by the Finance Minister,
Mrs Zainab Ahmed, in her opening remarks at a high-level roundtable meeting on
National Donor Coordination in Abuja on Wednesday which resulted in the
decision to create a Donor Coordinating Unit.
The details: In a statement signed by Special Adviser on
Media and Communication to the Finance Minister, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, the
2020 budget would be concluded and submitted this month, as the ministry is
currently capturing the planned and ongoing programmes of donor agencies in the
country.
The statement read: “The 2020 Budget preparation process is
well underway and we intend to finalise and submit the 2020 appropriation bill
to the National Assembly by the end of this month.
“The first step is ensuring that your donor programmes are
aligned with our strategic priorities and are in turn reflected in our upcoming
national budget, we will hold meetings in the next few days to better
understand your ongoing and planned programmes.
“This process will ensure that we consider on-going and
planned aid interventions when making our 2020 budgetary allocations, and that
said interventions are reflected in the Appropriation Bill.”
11 Economic Priority Areas: Meanwhile, the minister
disclosed that the present administration had designed 11 Economic Priority
Areas.
According to Ahmed, in the area of economic and governance
reforms, the government will focus on macroeconomic stability through
coordinated economic, monetary, fiscal and trade policies; a fight against
corruption and improving governance.
Speaking on investments in infrastructure and human capital,
Ahmed stated that the government had planned to target “improved health,
education and productivity of Nigerians; ensure energy sufficiency with power;
ensure energy sufficiency with petroleum products; improve transportation and
other infrastructure; and drive industrialisation, focusing on macro, small and
medium-sized enterprises.”
While also outlining the government’s plan to optimise
investments in physical and food security to drive inclusive socio-economic
development, Ahmed disclosed that the government “plans an improved security
for all citizens; enhance agriculture self-sufficiency to achieve food
security; enhance social inclusion by scaling-up social investments; and
improve access to mass housing & consumer credit to enhance financial
inclusion.”
In her concluding remarks, Ahmed emphasized the need for a
government-driven national donor coordination mechanism, noting that a
well-structured approach is important to ensure that external financing is
maximised to the benefit of Nigerians.
“We will work together to put in place a National Donor
Coordination Mechanism that is aligned to the government’s key strategic
priority areas as set out in our national plans, policies and annual budgets.
While government-led, this process must be collaborative in order to succeed.”
Upshots: While the
disclosure may excite many, it came just four months after the government
approved the 2019 Budget.
Following the latest disclosure by the Finance Minister,
there is a possibility that the development will return Nigeria’s budget cycle
back to January and December as analysts have constantly called for the
reversal.
Meanwhile, the 2020 Budget is expected to be increased, just
as the Presidency recently declared that 60% (N5.35 trillion) of the 2019
Budget would be rolled over to the 2020 Budget due to slow implementation.
The slow budget approval and implementation which has
characterised the current administration of President Buhari is a recurring
decimal which has largely affected the economy.
