The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, explained on Monday in Abuja during the public presentation of the 2017 budget breakdown that the disruptions to oil production and falling crude prices had made it impossible for the government to meet majority of its revenue projections.
The event was attended by the ministers of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole; Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun; Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh; Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; and Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, among others.
Providing useful insights into how the looted funds would be recovered and used, the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze, said that N288.6bn out of the N565bn would come from recovered looted funds.
He said, “With respect to the looted funds for the revenue profile in the 2017 budget, it is a total of N288.6bn. This includes N97.6bn, which is the naira equivalent of $320m expected from the Swiss (government), which is part of what was recovered from the Abacha loot.
“It also includes N72bn that has already been received in cash from cases of recoveries and the balance of N90bn is from other expected recoveries, which are at an advanced stage and we feel comfortable and confident that they will come through in 2017 and have to be reflected in the budget.”
The Nigerian Communications Commission had in October 2015 fined MTN N1.04tn for selling over five million unregistered SIM cards.
The fine was later reduced to N330bn, out of which MTN has paid N50bn to the government. The balance of N280bn will be paid in six tranches over a period of three years.
The persistent attacks on oil installations by militants in the Niger Delta and the harsh operating climate resulting in low tax receipts from companies, according to Udoma, dealt a huge blow on the government’s revenue in the first nine months of this year.
An analysis of the projected revenue items in the 2016 budget in relation to the actual receipts showed that the Federal Government recorded a decline of N1.9tn in nine months.
Udoma said the revenue performance in the period had been disappointing, noting that the development had made the government to review downwards some of the revenue parameters in the 2017 fiscal period to a more realistic one.
He explained that although for most part of the year, crude oil prices exceeded the benchmark price of $38 per barrel, there had been a significant shortfall in projected revenue because of disruptions to crude oil production as a result of militant activities in the Niger Delta.
For instance, the minister said that the projected oil revenue for the first nine months of 2016 was N2.8tn as against the N2.2tn realised, while the projected independent revenue was N1.1tn as against N200bn realised during the period.
He added that the projected revenue from the Nigeria Customs Service also declined from N300bn to N200bn within the period, while the projected non-oil tax receipts were N800bn as against N500bn realised during the period.
Udoma said, “The Federal Government of Nigeria’s oil revenues decreased sharply in 2015 and 2016 because of oil production shut-ins and sharp decline in oil price since 2014. The oil price steadied at an average of $110 per barrel from 2012 to 2014, but dropped to a record low of $29 per barrel in February 2016, a drop of 70 per cent.
“Although for most part of the year, crude oil prices exceeded the 2016 benchmark price of $38 per barrel, there has been a significant shortfall in projected revenue caused by the disruptions in crude oil production as a result of militant activity in the Niger Delta.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments...