By Tony Obiechina Abuja
Professor of Capital Market, Uche Uwaleke has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the timely presentation of the 2022 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly.
The President on Thursday presented the 2022 Appropriation Bill tagged “Budget of Economic Growth and Sustainability” withtotal revenue estimated at N17.7 billion to the Joint Session of the National Assembly.
He however called on National Assembly It is expected that the National Assembly to conclude work on the budget before the end of the year “to enable implementation to commence in January following the President’s assent”, adding that “Indeed, the mending of the hitherto broken budget year is a major achievement by this administration”.
“I think the budget benchmarks are largely realistic with respect to crude oil price of $57, exchange rate of circa N410 and real GDP growth rate of 4.2%. However, inflation rate of 13% does not appear realistic considering the implementation of the PIA requiring the complete removal of fuel subsidy.
“As the President admitted, the concern about increasing deficit financing through borrowing is justified. The consolation however is that all new borrowings are tied to critical projects.
“It’s equally noteworthy that the government has made provision for use of Green bonds as well as PPP arrangements in financing infrastructure”, he added.
