President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said the N8.92 trillion 2019 budget passed by the National Assembly will be difficult to implement by the Federal government.
President Buhari stated this while signing the budget at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday, saying that government will still need to engage members of the National Assembly to tinker with the budget, as part of efforts to make it implementable.
President Buhari while signing the budget said, “Although I will be signing the budget as passed by assembly, I will still be engaging the leadership of the National Assembly to address some of our concerns in the budget because some of the changes will make it difficult for us to implement our efforts at improving the economy.“
The budget was increased by about N90.33 billion bringing the amount to N8.92 trillion, as against the N8.83 trillion presented by President Muhammadu Buhari.
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The budget which was presented to the National Assembly on December 18, 2018, is coming back to the President about six months after it was presented.
The increase, according to the Senate Committee Chairman on Appropriation, Danjuma Goje, was to accommodate severance allowance for the outgoing lawmakers of the 8th National Assembly.
The President signed the budget to avoid further delays in implementation of the 2019 budget going into the sixth month of the year.
According to the President “ In December 2018 I presented the 2019 budget to the National Assembly , a budget aimed at moving the economy forward. I proposed a budget of 8.83 trillion naira but was increased to 8.92 trillion naira by National Assembly which reflects an increase of 90.33 billion naira .
“ They introduced some changes, in some areas they reduced while in some they increased and they also introduced new things”
Already, Federal government said it hoping to commence the January to December budget cycle as part of measures to ensure disciplined fiscal policy and strengthen the economy.
