FG approves timetable for 2017 budget

The Federal Government has approved a timetable for the 2017 appropriation, while it maintains that talks are still on with the National Assembly for the finalization of the 2016 budget

Minister of Budget and National Planning Udo Udoma told newsmen after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) assured that Nigerians would soon have a budget.

“On the expectation that we will soon have a budget, the monitoring and evaluation mechanism to make sure that the budget delivers what it promises. That mechanism was looked at by the Federal Executive Council and approved.

“To make sure that 2017 budget is done on time, a timetable was approved for the 2017 budget” Udoma said.

The 2016 is currently awaiting Presidential assent as it is now shrouded in  controversy. President Muhammadu Buhari declined assenting to sign the 2016 budget which was transmitted by the National Assembly after discovering distortions of some of the projects initially proposed.

Council also noted the report of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) which in partnership with National planning Commission organised an economic summit last year and made various recommendations. The recommendations were presented and noted.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, threw light on the Nigeria-China currency deal, signed during the president’s visit to the Asian country, stating that it was a way for Nigeria to benefit from the internationalization of the Chinese currency.

Responding to questions on the matter, he said: “It’s not really a swap. What it takes is that as the Chinese economy goes strong, there is some pressure on them from the trading partners, international financial institutions. They agreed that the money should be internationalized.

“So, they started that for a while. They were protecting it also. They did not allow it to be fully exchangeable. But now, their economy is fully strong, they are looking for a way to internationalize the currency. Now, they were saying essentially that they wanted to segment it.

“For Southern Africa, South Africa is going to be the sort of a hub for the currency. So, they are going to be the focal point for the Chinese to make that available for trade in that area.

“In west Africa, they are looking for a hub. Ghana is interested in being the hub for the currency to circulate it for those who want to use it. It is not compulsory. But Nigeria is a bigger country with bigger economy. So that does make sense.

“And they became a kind of attracted to Nigeria to be the hub.

“So, for us, the benefit is that it gives us small flexibility. So, if Nigeria is buying Chinese goods, for instance, it will in our interest to use the Yuan because we know there is a lot of squeeze for the dollar.

“But we still use the dollar. But if it not enough and there are some people who want to invest in the country, instead of crying that they cannot take dollar out, there might be Yaun that they would be happy to take out because it is now internationalized as a currency and they can use it. So, it gives us a much larger option.

“As you know, a lot of importers now are complaining that they are not able to access the dollars to buy good and things like that. So, if we have in addition to dollar, we have Yaun, then they can also have available.

“So, it has given us a greater opportunity for our economy so that those people can also now import not withstanding the shortage of dollars.

“So, that is really what it’s more about rather than a swap deal or any such thing.”

 

Elizabeth Archibong