2012 Appropriation: N/Assembly Targets 50% Capital Expenditure
- By Simeon Ogoegbulem
- Published September 5th, 2011
- News
- Unrated
Ahead of the submission of the 2012 National Appropriation Bill next month, the National Assembly said it would ensure that at least 50 per cent of the budget proposals are set aside for capital expenditure. This move would be a sharp departure from what is currently obtained as recurrent expenditure has, in the last decade, gulped over 70 per cent of the national budgets.
Senator Ndoma Egba, Senate Leader, said the National Assembly is determined to ensure that the recurrent expenditure is drastically pruned in order to free more money for the capital vote. This move, according to him, would to a large extent aid infrastructural development in the country.
The high level of recurrent expenditure over the years has exposed the over bloated nature of government machinery where by most of the nation’s lean resources are devoted to servicing government personnel and leaving little or nothing for the development of critical infrastructure for the growth of the economy. This situation has, in the past, pitted government against development activists.
However, the federal lawmakers seem to have resolved to change the scenario as according to Egba, the National Assembly is disposed to seeing a larger chunk of the 2012 proposals being dedicated to capital expenditure. He said the lawmakers would like to see a situation whereby there is a marked reduction in recurrent and over-head expenses. “We will want to see a budget that has over 50 per cent capital expenditure,” he said. “By the time we do this, it will be a remarkable change and departure from what we have in the past where over 70 percent of the national budget goes into recurrent expenditure.”
Egba assured Nigerians that the 2012 budget will be the beginning of a gradual increase in capital budget. He quickly dismissed insinuations that the National Assembly has not leaved up to its responsibilities of budget tracking, monitoring and oversights functions, resulting in poor implementation of budgets for successive years since the return to civilian rule in 1999.
He however admitted that, “there are some constitutional constraints” which limits the ability of the parliament to correct lapses in budget implementation by the executive.
Senator Ndoma Egba, Senate Leader, said the National Assembly is determined to ensure that the recurrent expenditure is drastically pruned in order to free more money for the capital vote. This move, according to him, would to a large extent aid infrastructural development in the country.
The high level of recurrent expenditure over the years has exposed the over bloated nature of government machinery where by most of the nation’s lean resources are devoted to servicing government personnel and leaving little or nothing for the development of critical infrastructure for the growth of the economy. This situation has, in the past, pitted government against development activists.
However, the federal lawmakers seem to have resolved to change the scenario as according to Egba, the National Assembly is disposed to seeing a larger chunk of the 2012 proposals being dedicated to capital expenditure. He said the lawmakers would like to see a situation whereby there is a marked reduction in recurrent and over-head expenses. “We will want to see a budget that has over 50 per cent capital expenditure,” he said. “By the time we do this, it will be a remarkable change and departure from what we have in the past where over 70 percent of the national budget goes into recurrent expenditure.”
Egba assured Nigerians that the 2012 budget will be the beginning of a gradual increase in capital budget. He quickly dismissed insinuations that the National Assembly has not leaved up to its responsibilities of budget tracking, monitoring and oversights functions, resulting in poor implementation of budgets for successive years since the return to civilian rule in 1999.
He however admitted that, “there are some constitutional constraints” which limits the ability of the parliament to correct lapses in budget implementation by the executive.
