Recurrent expenditure at N4tr betrays govt’s efficiency claims
If there is efficiency in Nigeria’s governance, it has not been in the last fours and would remain a pipe dream, until it is realised, possibly in distant future, as about N500 billion additional cost is projected this year, despite revenue shortfalls.
The 2019 appropriation plan sent to the National Assembly has N4.04 trillion as Recurrent Expenditure, representing 15 per cent increase from N3.5 trillion planned in the ongoing 2018 budget.
The recurrent non-debt expenditure is bigger than what the entire northern and South East states cumulatively budgeted for 2019, as well as without provision for the ongoing minimum wage negotiation. In 2017, the approved recurrent non-debt expenditure was N2.99 trillion, a marked departure that represents 35.1 per cent increase compared to the N4.04 trillion proposal for 2019.A fiscal governance campaigner, Eze Onyekpere, retorted: “This increment cannot be the sign of a system that is taking steps to remove waste and inefficiencies.” Read more