 |
| Mohammadu Buhari, GCFR |
1. It gives me great pleasure today to
sign the first full-year budget of this administration into law. I thank the
leadership of the National Assembly, in particular, the Senate President and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and indeed all members of the
National Assembly for their cooperation in making this a reality.
2. The budget is intended to signpost a
renewal of our commitment to restoring the budget as a serious article of faith
with the Nigerian people. This Administration is committed to ensuring that
henceforth the annual appropriation bill is presented to the National Assembly
in time for the passage of the Act before the beginning of the fiscal year.
3. Through the 2016 budget, aptly titled
"Budget of Change’’, the government seeks to fulfill its own side of the
social contract. The Budget I have signed into law provides for aggregate
expenditures of N6.06trn. Further details of the approved budget, as well as
our Strategic Implementation Plan for the 2016 budget, will be provided by the
Honourable Minister of Budget and National Planning.
4. I shall be speaking in more details
about the Budget, its implementation and the over-all national economic and
social policies of the Government in my address on May 29th, God willing.
5. In designing the 2016 budget, we made a
deliberate choice to pursue an expansionary fiscal policy despite the huge
decline in government revenues from crude oil exports. This is why we decided
to enlarge the budget deficit at this time, to be financed principally through
foreign and domestic borrowings. All borrowings will however be applied towards
growth-enhancing capital expenditures.
6. The signing of the budget today will
trigger concerted efforts to reflate the Nigerian economy, a key element of
which is an immediate injection of N350bn into the economy by way of capital
projects. To illustrate our renewed commitment to infrastructural development,
the 2016 budget allocates over N200bn to road construction as against a paltry
N18bn allocated for same purpose in the 2015 budget.
7. Despite the current difficulties we
will work extra-hard to achieve our revenue projections. Our revenue generating
agencies are coming under better management and are being re-oriented. The
implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) is expected to contribute
significantly to improving transparency over government revenues.
8. Our determined fight against corruption
is resulting in improvements in the quality of public expenditure. The work of
the Efficiency Unit, as well as other public financial management initiatives,
are also contributing in this regard. The continuing efforts to reduce recurrent
expenditures should hopefully free up more funds for capital expenditure in
2017 and beyond.
9. As I said in my New Year message,
living in State House does not in any way alienate me from your daily
struggles. I read the newspapers and listen to the TV and radio news. I hear
your cries. I share your pains.
10. We are experiencing probably the
toughest economic times in the history of our Nation. I want to commend the
sacrifice, resilience and toughness of all Nigerians young and old who have
despite the hardships continued to have hope and confidence of a great future
for Nigerians. But permit me to say that this government is also like none
other. We are absolutely committed to changing the structure of the Nigerian
economy once and for all.
11.We are working night and day to
diversify the economy so that we never again have to rely on one commodity to
survive as a country. So that we can produce the food we eat, make our own
textiles, produce most of the things we use. We intend to create the environment
for our young peoples to be able to innovate and create jobs through
technology.
12. I cannot promise you that this will be an easy journey, but in
the interest of so much and so many we must tread this difficult path. I can
assure you that this government you have freely elected will work with honesty
and dedication, day and night to ensure that our country prospers and that the
prosperity benefits all Nigerians.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Mohammadu Buhari,
GCFR
President/Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.
State House, Abuja.
Friday, May 6, 2016
Friday, May 6, 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment