From Uche Usim, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday ordered all government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) from engaging in any form of recruitment without obtaining presidential clearance.
The decision is to prevent swelling their expenses and ultimately altering the implementation of the budget.
President Buhari gave the order in Abuja, while presenting the N8.6 trillion 2018 budget before the joint session of the National Assembly.
He said government remains determined to grow the economy and as such would run a trim and efficient workforce.
President Buhari said government expects 2018 to be a year of better outcomes.
“The tepid economic recovery is expected to pick up pace and the global political terrain is expected to stabilise. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is anticipating global GDP growth of 3.7 per cent in 2018. Emerging markets and developing economies are expected to lead with GDP growth of 4.9 percent, while advanced economies are projected to grow at a slower rate of 2 percent,” he stated.
He said the 2018 budget was premised on oil price benchmark of US$45 per barrel; oil production estimate of 2.3 million barrels per day, including condensates; exchange rate of N305/US$ for 2018; real GDP growth of 3.5 per cent and inflation rate of 12.4 per cent.
In the oil and gas sector, President Buhari said relatively higher crude oil prices supported Nigeria’s economic recovery, noting that mutually beneficial engagements with oil producing communities in the Niger Delta contributed immensely to the recovery in oil production experienced in recent months.
“We are working hard on the Ogoni Clean-up Project. During the year, we engaged eight international and local companies proposing different technologies for the mandate. To enable us select the best and most suitable technology for the remediation work, we asked each company to conduct demonstration clean-up exercises in the four local government areas of Ogoniland. These demonstrations were recently concluded and the results are being studied by the Governing Council of the Ogoni Clean-up Project. Although the project will be funded by the international oil companies, we have made provisions in the 2018 budget for the costs of oversight and governance, to ensure effective implementation,” he said. He also revealed that the 2017 budget was based on a benchmark oil price of US$44.5 per barrel, oil production of 2.2 million barrels per day and a Naira-to-US dollar exchange rate of 305.
“Based on these assumptions, total revenue of N5.084 trillion was projected to fund aggregate expenditure of N7.441 trillion. A projected fiscal deficit of N2.356 trillion was to be financed mainly by domestic and external borrowing.
“On revenue performance, collections were 14 per cent below target as of September 2017, mainly due to the shortfall in non-oil revenues.
“A key revenue shortfall was from independent revenues; only N155.14 billion was remitted by September 2017 as against the projected prorated sum of N605.87 billion. This represents a 74 per cent shortfall, which is very disappointing.”
Buhari said he had directed the Economic Management Team (EMT) to review the fiscal profiles of these agencies, to ensure strict compliance with the applicable executive orders and financial regulations.