Government misses budget target as Presidency shifts presentation date

The Federal Government may not be able to implement Budget 2017 from January 1 to December 31 next year again due to its failure to present it to the National Assembly on time to ensure its speedy passage.

In May this year while passing the 2016 spending plan, the National Assembly had expressed concern over poor budget implementation records over the years and attributed the development to late budget presentation by the government.

Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki yesterday, in a letter read to senators at the commencement of their session, said President Muhammadu Buhari had sought to present the document at 10:00.a.m. on December 14, 2016.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning Ministry, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma had assured Nigerians of a speedy action this time around to break the jinx, when the processes of the 2017 Budget began around August this year.

He had promised that latest October this year the plan would be with the National Assembly to give them enough time to work on it and pass it before the end of this year so as to commence implementation on January 1, thereby resetting the implementation calendar.

The current fiscal plan is expected to end in May 2017 up from the March extension limits of the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

However, the disagreement between the Senate and the Presidency with regard the 2017 to 2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) remains unresolved.