By PROVIDENCE OBUH

President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants  of Nigeria, ICAN, Mr. Adedoyin Owolabi has called for proper implementation of the 2013 budget   in the remaining ten months of theyear.

He made this call  at the Institute’s symposium on the 2013 Budget of the Federal Government of Nigeria, which was aimed at reviewing the provisions of the 2013 fiscal document.

Owolabi said, “Since we have, avoidably, lost two months of the year to political bickering over the contents of the budget, we therefore urge the Executive and Legislature to close ranks to ensure scrupulous implementation and monitoring of its various provisions. It is particularly note-worthy that the Federal Minister of Special Duties has been assigned the responsibility of monitoring the implementation of various Constituency Projects across the country.”

He added that such monitoring should cover other projects as envisaged by the performance contract signed by the President with Ministers, saying, “We desire value for money and nothing else.”

Meanwhile, annually, the Institute organises a post budget symposium aimed at analysing the Federal Government’s Budget so as to have an informed view of its sectoral provisions, fiscal and monetary policies and their implications for productive economic activities and welfare of the citizens, this is however done as part of its social responsibility to the business community and the nation at large.

According to him, “Over the years, we have been complaining about the crowding out effect of budget deficits on private sector’s access to credit.  I note with delight and commend the Federal Government for the reduction in budget deficit from 2.85 per cent of GDP in 2012 to 1.85 per cent in 2013 as this would impact positively on the ability of private sector to access credits from the financial system. This is particularly symbolic as it is much less than five percent  of GDP provided in the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

“The desire of the government to reduce cost of governance and spend more on capital investments is clearly manifested in the decline in the share of recurrent expenditure from 74.4% of total expenditure in 2011 to the projected 67.5 per cent in 2013. To reinforce this, the capital allocation was simultaneously increased from 25.6 per cent to 32.5 per cent. While these may look small, they represent a significant policy statement of commitment to development if expressed in monetary values.”