From Our Correspondent
The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has dismissed the criticism of the 2025 budget proposal by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, describing it as a tirade, ungrounded in fact.
Atiku, former presidential candidate of PDP had claimed that the budget estimates lacked structural reform and fiscal discipline.
TheNewsZenith reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently presented the 2025 fiscal estimates to the National Assembly in Abuja.
But the policy think tank maintained, in a statement signed by its Chairman Dr Omoniyi Akinsiju, that the budget had a better capital expenditure to recurrent ratio.
It said the estimates were better than previous budgets, including those from the administration in which Atiku served as Vice President.
“We contend from a point of fact that indeed, this is the first time since the return to democracy that the country’s budget reflects higher projected capital spending.
“The Capital to recurrent expenditures ratio at 52% capital expenditure compared favourably to 48% per cent recurrent expenditure.
“This is contrary to Atiku’s stance that the budget proposal lacks structural reforms and fiscal discipline,” IMPI stated.
The group noted that this was nearly matching the capital expenditure of N16 trillion (34%).
This is as recurrent spending remains excessively high at N14 trillion (30%) of the budget.
``We submit that recurrent expenditure has always been higher than capital expenditure in Nigeria’s budgets.
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“Between 1981 and 1990, capital expenditure was 43.34% of total expenditure, while recurrent expenditure was 56.66% between 2011 and 2019.
“To declutter Atiku’s perspective of the 2025 budget in this regard, we like to call his attention to the capital expenditure ratio to recurrent expenditure during his years in government as Vice President.
“For instance, the ratio of recurrent expenditure to capital expenditure in Nigeria’s 2001 budget was between 52% and 48%.
“This is at N579.3 billion to N438.7 billion respectively.
“In 2002, the ratio fell precipitously to 41.12 per cent for capital expenditure. At the same time, the recurrent expenditure rosed to 58.82 per cent,” it stated.
The think tank also pointed out from an analyst perspective how the 2025 budget proposal is big on fiscal discipline.
“Talking about fiscal discipline, we could not find a better testimony than the commitment by the President Tinubu to reduce the inflation rate from the current high of 34.46 per cent recorded in November to 15 per cent in 2025.
“To accomplish this, President Tinubu declared during the budget presentation to parliamentarians that the government will avoid inflationary spending.
“This is a substantial commitment to understanding and embracing fiscal discipline in the conduct of government business and spending.
“No Nigerian leader in a similar fiscal situation had made such a commitment publicly,” ThenNewsZenith quotes the group as stating.
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