National Assembly to commence debate on budget next week

    Almost one month after President Muhammadu Buhari presented a N7.29 trillion 2017 budget proposal to a joint session of the National Assembly, Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said, yesterday, both chambers will commence debate on the document, next week.



Saraki said this when Senate reconvened after a three-week Christmas break. He also disclosed that the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, and the Fiscal Strategy Paper, FSP, will be passed tomorrow.

    The Senate President reiterated the need to ensure the 2017 budget is well scrutinised in order to pass the most successful budget in the history of the National Assembly.

   On his part, Dogara said Nigerians have identified the 2017 budget as one of the tools through which the Federal Government can pull the country out of recession, hence, the need to have it passed in a transparent and timely manner.

   Dogora, in his welcome address, stressed that members must be committed to ensuring that work on 2017 Appropriation Bill is carried out “professionally”.

  The 2017 budget remains the major tool to re-jig our economy. This is in addition to other fiscal and monetary policies.