PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, presented to the Joint National Assembly a total budget of N4.92 trillion as the aggregate expenditure for the 2013 fiscal year, just as he pegged the benchmark oil price at US$75 per barrel, an increase from the US$72 per barrel of 2012.
The 2013 budget, which is five per cent increase over the N4.749 trillion of 2012, is made up of N380.02 billion for Statutory Transfers , N591.76 billion for Debt Service, N2.41 trillion for Recurrent(Non-Debt) Expenditure and N1.54 trillion for Capital Expenditure.
In the budget proposal which is tagged “Fiscal Consolidation with Inclusive Growth,” Security comprising defene and Police gulped the highest allocation of N668.56bn with Education coming second with N426.53 billion; Health, N79.23 billion; Works, N183.5 billion; Agriculture and Rural Development, N81.41 billion and Power, N74.26 billion.
The government has proposed to reduce the nation’s annual domestic borrowing from N744 billion in 2012 to N727 billion next year, just as the share of recurrent spending in aggregate expenditure is expected to reduce from 71.47 per cent in 2012 to 68.7 per cent in the 2013 budget. Capital expenditure as a share of aggregate spending is set to increase from 28.53 per cent in 2012 to 31.3 per cent in 2013.
President Jonathan said against the backdrop that power and gas sectors require a lot of investments to sustain supply improvements, the government had set aside in the budget a Proposed Infrastructure Euro Bond of about $1 billion to complement available resources geared towards completing gas pipelines and other infrastructure investments, adding: ‘’We have also programmed other grants and soft credits critical to infrastructure and other sectors in our medium term external borrowing plan.”
Fiscal deficit to improve to about 2.17% of GDP
According to him, 2013 fiscal deficit is projected to improve to about 2.17% of Gross Domestic Product, GDP compared to 2.85% in 2012, adding: “Based on these assumptions, the gross federally collectible revenue is projected at N10.84 trillion, of which the total revenue available for the Federal Government’s budget is forecast at N3.89 trillion, representing an increase of about nine per cent over the estimate for 2012.
‘’Non-oil revenue is projected to continue to grow in 2013 as the ongoing reforms in our revenue collecting agencies, and the implementation of initiatives to further develop the non-oil sector continue to yield results.
‘’Based on the above, the fiscal deficit is projected to improve to about 2.17 per cent of GDP in the 2013 Budget compared to 2.85 per cent in 2012. This is well within the threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 and clearly highlights our commitment to fiscal prudence. We are determined to further rein in domestic borrowing, and this way, ensure that our debt stock remains at a sustainable level.
‘’The SURE-P will continue with the expected resources of N180 billion in 2013 augmented by the projected 2012 unspent balances, bringing the total to about N273.5 billion. We hope to make further progress in the programme, providing additional infrastructure investments and social safety net schemes for Nigerians.
Foreign reserves now US$41.6bn
Jonathan who noted that the proposed benchmark price of oil was based on a well established economic method of estimating oil price moving averages, however, stressed that the projected Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth rate is now estimated at 6.5 per cent compared to the 6.85 per cent in the Fiscal Strategy Paper.
According to him, inflation has dropped from 12.9 per cent in June 2012 to 11.7 per cent in August 2012, with plans by the government to reduce it further, just as he disclosed that the nation’s foreign reserves now stand at US$41.6 billion, noting that it was the highest in over two years.
“We intend to continue with our programme of fiscal discipline and prudent monetary policy in order to continue to improve our country’s macroeconomic environment,” he said
No comments:
Post a Comment