Senate Invite Ministers Over 2017 Budget

2017 Budget:The Senate has, yesterday invited the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun; and Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, to brief it on the implementation of the 2017 Appropriation Act.

Senate, at the plenary session yesterday, scored the Executive low on implementation of the national budget, especially for what it called the inadequate releases for capital projects.

This was contained in a motion moved by Senator Gbenga Ashafa (Lagos-East), entitled, ‘Inadequate Releases in the 2017 Budget and the Need to Expedite Releases in Order to Stimulate the Economy,’ which was adopted by the lawmakers.

The Senate unanimously adopted a prayer of the motion, which was to “request that the Honourable Minister of Finance and the Honourable Minister of Budget and National Planning appear before the Senate in plenary immediately to brief the Senate on the cause of the inadequate releases and steps being taken to expedite release of funds for the capital component of the 2017 Appropriation Act.”

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, in his remarks on the motion, asked the Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, to immediately write Adeosun and Udoma.

In another motion by Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi-North), titled ‘Stabilising and Sustaining Post-Recession Growth of the Economy, the Senate unanimously adopted the prayers, including to “urge the national economy managers to remain focused and ensure that the current weak growth of a mere 0.55 per cent is built upon and increased substantially in the months and years to come.”

The Senate also urged the fiscal and monetary authorities to come together and harmonise fiscal and monetary policies, with a view to drastically reducing the high interest rates that have adversely affected borrowing for investment by the real sector of the economy.”

Also, the lawmakers urged fiscal authorities to drastically reduce the accumulation of domestic debt in order to free the market for better access by the private sector.

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