Nigerian Govt Set to Release Second Tranche of Capital Budget

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Ministry of Finance will soon release the second tranche of the N2.1 trillion capital expenditure for the 2017 budget, It was learnt.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who made the disclosure at the State House in response to enquiries by THISDAY on the implementation of the budget, said the first release of N336 billion from the capital budget was made in August shortly after the government announced its preparedness to release N350 billion.

Eventually, the government released N336 billion, leaving a balance of N14 billion which the minister said was currently being processed for eventual release.

According to her, the Ministry of Finance was last Tuesday compelled to announce the release of the N336 billion, following a report that the ministry had kept mum on the release of N350 billion shortly after the budget was signed by the then acting President Yemi Osinbajo on June 6, this year.

Adeosun who had been summoned by the Senate last week to appear before it along with the Minister of Budget and National Planning over the perceived poor implementation of the 2017 budget, however, denied any inherent problem in the implementation of the budget.

According to her, the budget’s implementation was predicated on the release of funds on a quarterly basis, explaining that following the signing of the 2017 budget in June, the period of June and September marked the first quarter of the budget’s implementation, during which she said the government had done the needful by releasing N336 billion. 

She said on this basis, the government was getting set to make the second capital release for the last quarter of the year, but was silent on the exact time the next tranche would be released.

She said the capital budget would be implemented despite the fiscal challenges confronting the nation in terms of the government’s commitment to infrastructure development and efforts to grow the economy.

“The 2017 budget was signed in June and we released N336 billion in August. I only made a statement yesterday in response to a misleading report by the press.