By Oscarline Onwuemenyi

ABUJA — The Federal Government has said it would initiate measures to enhance the performance of budgets and increase value for money in public sector spending, as well as place emphasis on monitoring the deliverables achieved by government agencies and departments with resources made available to them.

Minister of Finance, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, who made this known yesterday during a workshop on the 2011-2013 Medium Term Sector Strategy, MTSS, for Minisistries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, in Abuja, said while approved budgetary expenditure had been on the increase in recent years, there has not been a corresponding increase in the quality of public spending.

He said government would strive to reduce the deficit in the 2011 fiscal year and gradually return, over the medium-term, to the three per cent of Gross Domestic Product recommended by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.

He said: “The ultimate outcome of the MTSS process will be the 2011 Executive Budget Proposal, which we hope to conclude by September in order to provide the National Assembly sufficient time to complete their appropriation work.

2011 budget ready Sept
He said the executive is committed to cooperating fully with the legislature during their debates and deliberations, and to facilitate the expeditious passage of, and assent to, the 2011 budget by the end of the fiscal year.