The Commissioner, Planning and Budget Commission, Mr Thomas Gyang, said during a virtual consultation meeting in Kaduna that the measure was part of the state government’s commitment to citizens’ engagement.
Gyang said that the meeting was organised to update the CSOs and the private sector on the journey so far in the preparation of the 2021-2023 multi-year budget.
He also said that the consultation was to provide insights on the underlying macro-economic assumptions and fiscal targets that informed the preparation of the 2021–2023 MTEF document.
According to him, the working relationship among the government, civil society and private sector will further strengthen transparency and accountability in the state.
“This interface will facilitate the activities of the CSOs by making information available in advance to enhance timely budget scrutiny for quality inputs,” he said.
Gyang said that the MTEF budget size for the 2021 fiscal year was put at N170.4 billion, with a projected capital expenditure of N100.2 billion and recurrent expenditure of N70.2 billion.
He put the expected total recurrent revenue at N111.1 billion, out of which statutory allocation was N46.9 billion, VAT N18.4 billion and internally-generation revenue (IGR) N45.7 billion.
The commissioner added that the macro-economic assumption that informed the preparation of the MTEF was the national inflation rate of 15 percent and the national real GDP growth rate of 1.7 percent.
“Other assumptions include oil production benchmark of 1.7 million barrel per day, oil price benchmark of $35 dollars per barrel and exchange rate of N360 to a dollar and mineral ratio of 34 percent.
“Meanwhile, the World Bank’s programme for result credit loan will constitute the chunk of the loan that will be used to finance the 2021 capital projects,” he said.
Gyang said that the 2021 budget estimates were based on the MTEF document, which had historically provided more realistic estimates.
He added that the 2021–2023 draft budget was currently before the state Executive Council for deliberations, after which a town hall meeting would be organised to get the citizens’ inputs before presentation to the House of Assembly for passage.
During the discussion, Mr Yusuf Goje of Coalition of Association for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment and Development, drew the attention of the government to a realistic budget, in line with MTEF projections.
Also, Mr Emmanuel Bonet of AID Foundation, thanked the government for engaging the citizens in the MTEF processes and budget preparations, in line with the principle of Open Government Partnership (OGP).
Bonet said that the CSOs and the private sector would look at the MTEF assumptions vis-a-vis the state multi-year budget estimate and provide the necessary feedback for the government to improve the documents. (NAN)