jeff juwana
Moderator
With recurrent expenditure recorded at 71.5 per cent last year, the Vice-President Namadi Sambo on Tuesday said the figure in the 2013 budget would be reduced to 68.7 per cent while the capital vote is expected to increase to 31.3 per cent from 28.5 per cent in 2012. During the opening ceremony of the National Council on Finance and Economic Development in Minna, Niger State, he said, “The reforms in public financial management have started yielding results; we are making good progress with reducing our recurrent expenditure to sustainable levels, while increasing the fiscal space for supporting capital projects.
“The fiscal outlook has also improved considerably from a deficit of nearly four per cent of Gross Domestic Product in 2013 to about 2.85 per cent in 2012, below the three per cent threshold prescribed under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.
“The government’s expenditure is expected to grow by less than one per cent in 2013 to N4.87tn, compared to the 8.8 per cent growth in 2012; our non-oil revenue is projected to grow further in 2013 as the ongoing reforms in our revenue collecting agencies and the implementation of initiatives to further develop the non-oil sector continue to yield results.”
The Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, who represent the Vice-President, said that the Federal Government had initiated the process of reducing waste and duplication in the functions of its agencies.
“The fiscal outlook has also improved considerably from a deficit of nearly four per cent of Gross Domestic Product in 2013 to about 2.85 per cent in 2012, below the three per cent threshold prescribed under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.
“The government’s expenditure is expected to grow by less than one per cent in 2013 to N4.87tn, compared to the 8.8 per cent growth in 2012; our non-oil revenue is projected to grow further in 2013 as the ongoing reforms in our revenue collecting agencies and the implementation of initiatives to further develop the non-oil sector continue to yield results.”
The Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, who represent the Vice-President, said that the Federal Government had initiated the process of reducing waste and duplication in the functions of its agencies.