ABUJA — FINANCE Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala yesterday burst out in tones of lamentation over what she called ingratitude by Nigerians for what the present administration has been able to achieve.
The minister expressed the regrets when she appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on the 2005 Budget appraisal. However, the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission, RMFC, said the Ministry of Finance had under-declared the amount expected in the excess crude savings.
The reaction of the minister was sequel to the observation of a member of the committee, Dr. Usman Bugaje that the high figures quoted by both the ministry and the Central Bank as amounts the Federal Government had spent on the economy did not impact on the economy in the various constituencies in the country.
To this the minister said, "I am surprised that Nigerians seem not to appreciate what we have been able to do. We have put structures where there were no structures and we are carrying out proper reforms in the economic system."
She pointed out that the 2005 Budget would further consolidate the gains made so far from the reform programme of the Federal Government.
In a position paper presented by the RMFC, Alhaji Mohammed Illyasu, noted several defects in the computation made by the Ministry of Finance in the 2005 Budget.
According to the revenue commission, the Ministry of Finance grossly under-estimated the amount that the country expected to derive from the excess crude sales at the end of the current year, saying: "The projection of N609 billion as total savings from the excess crude sales at the end of 2004 is under-estimated. The record of transfer to excess crude sales account in the Federation Account shows that as at September 2004, the balance stood at $3, 734, 411, 527.77 and as at 18th October 2004 it was $4,856,075,566.62, on an average oil price of $43 per barrel.
"Using the above data, there will be an average excess of at least $485,607,556,662 million monthly. Therefore the expected surplus will be $5,827,290,679,994 and not $4.6 billion."
The commission also warned that the projection of the Ministry of Finance that the 2005 Budget deficit would be financed partly through the excess crude savings account would have adverse effect on the economy as it would impact negatively on the investible fund in the country.
"Financing through excess crude savings will have adverse effects on the economy because it is an inflow of resources into the economy at once and if the resources are not invested where the consumption of the economy will expand to absorb them, then it is bound to result in inflation. For this reason, the commission does not support the build up of funds in the excess crude sales account, especially when there is need to diversify the economy," he said.
The commission added that the House should consider re-ploughing the un-utilised balance of the 2004 capital estimates for the financing of the 2005 deficit.
Another recommendations made by the commission to the House was increasing the crude oil price benchmark from $27 per barrel to $30 per barrel.
