Avoid Budget Inflation – Reps Urge MDAs

The House of Representatives has ordered all of its standing committees to ensure they retain the budgets of their Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) so as to avoid a situation where the 2016 N6.07 trillion budget proposal would be upwardly reviewed.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumim, however explained that the committees are allowed to adjust personnel budget only if there is evidence that it has been inflated.

“We are not really celebrating the 2016 budget, because we had hoped for a situation where the recurrent would reduce, but we have a situation where both recurrent and capital are increasing,” Abdulmumim said.

He included that the increase in the recurrent expenditure can be tackled if the Federal Government ensures that all its staff are captured in the Integrated Personnel Scheme.

Abdulmumim added that the House would adjust the $38 per barrel benchmark for crude to a more practicable figure; it would also engage the Central Bank of Nigeria to discuss the possibility of any adjustment to the exchange rate of the Naira to the dollar.