N1.2trn Capital Expenditure Cash-Backed In 2016 — Fiscal Commission

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According to the commission’s 2016 Annual Report and Audited Accounts obtained on Tuesday in Abuja, the cash backed amount indicates 97.75 per cent performance.

It said that in comparison to the 2015 capital budget, the N1.58 trillion appropriated in 2016 was N1.03 trillion more than N557 billion appropriated in 2015.

Of  the N557 billion appropriated for capital expenditure in 2015, N387.3 billion was released and cash backed as against actual utilisation of N362.3 billion, indicating 65 per cent budget performance

The 2016 budget which was tagged ‘Budget of Change’ was projected at N6.06 trillion.

The 2016 FRC report stated that according to the Budget Implementation Report (BIR), N436.22 billion, N156.85 billion, N64.42 billion and N27.26 billion were released in the first, second, third and fourth batches respectively.

It also said that N487.75 billion was released as Authority to Incur Expenditures (AIEs).

The report said that the analysis of the BIR revealed that as at May 5, 2017, N1.191 trillion of the annual appropriated amounts released and cash backed had been utilised by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

It said that of the amount, N173.40 billion was disbursed as at Dec. 31, 2016, while N1.017 billion was disbursed between January and May 2017.

The report said that implementation of the 2016 budget experienced some constraints which resulted from late passage of the budget and revenue shocks.

Other constraints were uncertainty in the international market and fall in oil production as a result of militancy in the Niger Delta region.

It added that some MDAs experienced delays in their procurement processes or were unable to access their funds.

In all, it said that the capital budget achieved 75.03 per cent performance which when compared to previous years was quite laudable and should be sustained.

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