The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, yesterday appeared before the House of Representatives at the on-going sectorial debates.
She spoke extensively on the 2016 budget and its implementation. Here are 10 key points she made at the floor of the house:
1. Due to the paucity of funds, agencies should not expect to get completely what was appropriated in the 2016 budget, as the government would only release funds based on necessity.
2. Heads of ministries, departments and agencies, MDA, in the habit of lobbying for the release of funds to their various sectors should stay away from the Ministry of Finance office as there was no room for such lobby.
3. Government’s priority is to reduce cost of living and create employments for 500,000 Nigerians.
4. The government is making efforts to clear the debt of N60 billion owed by the previous administration to fertiliser suppliers which made them to stop making it available to farmers.
5. Government had reduced the counterpart funding on Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, to 10 per cent against the previous 50 per cent, so states would be able to access the funding.
6. The government is not engrossed in debate over minimum wage but investing to make the cost of living lower.
7. The Central Bank of Nigeria is doing some interventions around bringing down the cost of lending for agriculture and equally in part of commitment to the capitalisation of the Development Bank of Nigeria.
8. The Buhari government inherited debt of N60 billion due to supplies of fertilisers which were not paid by previous administration.
9. The Federal government will employ 500,000 unemployed graduates to go into teaching.
10. There is no money to fund all the projects in the 2016 budget. (Nigerian Bulletin)