The Federal Government on Monday released guidelines and instructions that must be followed by all its ministries, departments and agencies for the preparation of the 2021 budget proposal.

In its 2021 Budget Call Circular from the country’s budget office sighted in Abuja, the government stated that the document sets out the requirements and instructions that must be satisfied and followed in the preparation of the 2021 Federal Government of Nigeria budget proposal.

The circular disclosed that in the first five months of the year, the Federal Government suffered 38 per cent shortfall in its projected revenue. This translates to N1tn.

The document stated that all ministers/chief executives and accounting officers and other officers responsible for budget preparation were advised to read the budget call circular carefully.

The circular also touched on some aspects of the 2020 budget performance.

It stated, for instance, that as of May 30, the Federal Government’s actual revenue was N1.62tn (62 per cent of the N2.62tn pro-rata revised budget).

“The shortfall of 38 per cent is attributable to the under performance of both oil and non-oil revenue sources,” the document stated.

The circular further noted that the preparation of the 2021 budget estimates for MDAs should take into consideration the 2023 medium-term policies/strategies contained in the 2021 Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which is the government’s pre-budget statement.

It stated that the MTEF/FSP outlined the development priorities of government for the period covered.

“Further to this, the Federal Government’s annual budget shall be prepared using the Zero-Based Budgeting approach and in line with the government’s policy thrust, as articulated in the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan, as well as other relevant circulars,” it said.

The circular said in accordance with the 2021-2023 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, the aggregate government revenue available for budget for the fiscal year 2021 was projected at N7.49tn.

It said the aggregate expenditure level was projected to be N12.66tn.

“This aggregate expenditure is made up of statutory transfers of N481.41bn, debt service of N3.12bn, Sinking Fund of N220bn, and recurrent (non-debt) expenditure of N5.75tn,” it stated.

It put capital expenditure (exclusive of capital in statutory transfers) at N3.09tn, adding that of the capital expenditure, MDAs, capital was N1.49tn. (The Punch)

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