Buhari’s cabinet hold one day retreat on 2017 budget 

Ministers and Heads of relevant Federal Government Departments and Agencies will on Thursday converge at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, to present and discuss priority areas of the 2017 Budget, a statement from the budget office said.

The statement which was signed by the Media Adviser to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, James Akpandem said the one day retreat is part of a scheduled arrangement by the nation’s budget office to set the right parameters and fine-tune the 2017 Budget to align priority areas of the Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), with national growth and development objectives.

“The key objective of the retreat is to discuss the 2017 Budget as well as discuss steps that are being taken to get the economy out of recession. It will provide an opportunity to discuss the framework of the 2017 Budget, the key priorities and the deliverables of the budget” Akpandem said.

The retreat which is coming at a time that Nigeria is going through recession will have President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in attendance, as well as private sector facilitators and some economic experts expected to provide perspectives during the technical sessions.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki,  had earlier in the week said the Senate was planning an “exhaustive and comprehensive debate” on the economy, and will be calling on its managers to give account.

According to the statement the budget retreat became imperative following past failures to match targets and budgetary outcomes at the national and sectoral levels due to lack of synergy between the various Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The retreat is also expected to deliver improved understanding of the measures being taken to get the country out of recession; improve synergy among the various ministries for enhanced implementation of planning and budget; enhanced knowledge of how to develop 2017 Budget which is effectively linked with the medium term plan; prioritized projects and programmes of ministries to fit into the 2017-2019 MTSS, 2017-2020 Medium Term Plan and 2017 Budget; and improved understanding on Budget ceiling for MDAs for 2017 Budget.

The nation’s budget office had during a budget planning session with Civil Society Organisation’s said it would fast track the preparation of the 2017 budget to ensure it is submitted to the National Assembly in October to ensure early passage and the commencement of a new budgetary year by January.