Ties 2012 estimates to expenditure framework
THE National Assembly is still tinkering with the 2011 and 2012 federal fiscal estimates with a drastic cut in President Goodluck Jonathan’s virement request and three-month extension of this year’s appropriation.
These two steps were taken yesterday by the House of Representatives while the Senate said that the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) pending before it would determine the shape of the budget.
The House yesterday approved a virement of N31.9 billion for some Federal Government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the 2011 Appropriation Act, against the sum of N98.4 billion requested for approval by President Jonathan, showing a cut of N66.5 billion in the proposals.
Specifically, the President had in a letter dated September 27, 2011 to the Speaker of the House of Representatives explained that, “it is my hope that the virement proposals will go a long way in addressing some of the difficulties being encountered in the implementation of the 2011 budget and give focus to some of the key priorities of government.”
In approving the virement, which means moving allocated funds from one less important project heads, or sub-heads to more critical ones, the House has also approved the extension of the 2011 budget lifespan to March 31, 2012 from December 31, 2011.
Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, John Enoh while briefing members on the committee’s recommendations said the extension had become necessary to enable the affected MDAs implement the capital projects for which the funds were being moved.
Shedding light on what gave rise to the noted cut, Enoh said the committee’s analysis revealed that recurrent expenditure items “were transferred between ministries and agencies, contrary to Clause Four of the 2011 Appropriation Act which reads: “In the event that a need arise to vire amounts within the heads of expenditure to which sums have been appropriated under this Act, such virement shall only be effected with the prior approval of the National Assembly,” among others.
He argued that the intendment of the federal legislature was that virement should be carried out within MDAs, “and not the transfer of funds from one ministry to another which amount to alteration of the 2011 Appropriation Act if it is approved.”
He pointed out that being already at the end of the year, the requested funds must have been accessed by the concerned MDAs.
Meanwhile, the parliament while considering the report of the Appropriations Committee approved the virement proposal for capital projects of some MDAs as follows; N940.7 million for the Federal Capital Territory Administration, N820.7 million for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, N2.9 billion for Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, and N3.9 billion for the Ministry of Aviation.
Others are N19.6 million for the Ministry of Justice, N3.4 billion for Police Formations and Commands, N10.9 billion for the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, N15 million for the Public Complaints Commission, N1 billion for the Ministry of Defence/Nigerian Army, N810.7 million for the National Sports Commission, N538.3 million for the Ministry of Education and N6.5 billion for the Ministry of Health.
And against the backdrop of the anxiety over the presentation of the 2012 budget, the Senate yesterday said that the MTEF pending before it would determine the shape of the budget.
President Jonathan, about two months ago, forwarded the MTEF to the National Assembly giving an insight into the 2012-2015 expenditure frame-work.
The frame-work puts the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel and recommends removal of oil subsidy.
Speaking with journalists after the plenary session yesterday, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the chamber would soon finish work on the document and after that the 2011 budget would be forwarded by the Executive arm to the Legislature.
“We have just considered the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and once we pass it after the committee that was asked to work on it brings the report back; that would give the basis for discussing the budget. You will recall that we are in agreement with the President to do things, not just for one year but over a period of time and the medium term expenditure is up to 2015. So, the budget will be a part of medium term expenditure framework. I believe that once the physical framework that will span for four years is put in place, we will then begin to talk about the budget. We don’t have too much of a problem regarding it now because the underlying assumption for the budget is also the underlying assumption for the medium term expenditure framework,’’ he said.
The senate debated the framework last Tuesday and committed it to committees on Appropriation, Finance and National Planning for further action.
He added: “We just considered the medium term expenditure framework and once we pass the medium term expenditure framework, it will give the basis for the budget.
“You will recall that we are in agreement with Mr. President that we should do things not just for one year, but for over a period of time and the MTEF which is up to 2015, the budget is a part of the MTEF. Once the MTEF is put in place, then the budget inside it will also come out. I don’t think we have too much of a problem right now, because the underlying assumptions and basis in the budget is also the same underlying assumptions and basis in the MTEF.”
