BE WARNED! Full implementation of budget may be difficult – CBN

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday said that it will be difficult to implement the budget fully with the delay in the passage of the Appropriation Bill. This is as the Acting Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission(FRC), Mr. Victor Muruako  said the Federal Government may be losing over N1trillion due to the non-remittance of operating surplus.
Making a presentation during the first edition of the Nigerian Economic Stakeholders Summit, in Abuja,  the  Director, Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Moses Tule called for coordination between fiscal and monetary policies. He said without effective co-ordination of both policies, it would be difficult for the country to return to the path of growth.
The Director called on the government to avoid the mistake of  2016 budget adding that with the budget in which implementation is starting about five months into the year, stressing it would be difficult to ensure its full implementation.
Tule said even if the government was to release the N6 trillion it budgeted to spend in the 2016 fiscal year immediately, the economy does not have the capacity to absorb such huge spending over a seven-month period.
According to him, since the fund was planned to be utilised over a 12 months period, any effort to release it within seven months could only worsen the level of inflation in the country.
The CBN director added that this could only be effectively managed through fiscal and monetary coordination.
Also speaking,  Acting Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Mr. Victor Muruako, said the Commission had so far caused over N367 billion  to be remitted into the consolidated revenue fund by revenue generating agencies.
He said the Federal Government may be losing over N1 trillion due to the non-remittance of operating surplus, lamenting that agencies of government have perfected their art of defrauding the country through deliberate wrong computations, express diversion of funds, and application of wrong accounting standards.
“We will ensure that every kobo of government is well utilized. We have decided to monitor the payment of operating surpluses by revenue generating agencies into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
“Since 2009, we have been able to attract N367 billion into the CRF from operating surplus of revenue generating agencies.
Also, in his remarks, the  Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said the Federal Government was determined to ensure that the country become a net exporter of petroleum products within the next three years.
THE SUN