NIGERIAN lawmakers have criticised the 2017 Budget and identified some loopholes which need to be looked into in order to take the economy out of recession.
Contributing to the debate, during the Senate Plenary on Wednesday, Senator Olanrewaju Tejuoso, representing Ogun Central, harped on the need to have at least one per cent allocation of the 2017 Budget to the Health Sector, saying that it would facilitate increased personnel provisions for salaries to avoid incessant strikes in the sector.
Senator Nelson Effiong representing Akwa-Ibom South,appraised the focus of the Budget on local workforce, commending the 5 per cent VAT which will build investors’ confidence across the country.
The lawmaker also appreciated the increase in budgetary allocations of the Amnesty Programme from N45B in 2016 to N65B in 2017 Budget.
Speaking on the low capital expenditure in the budget while warning that Nigeria is indeed broke and has no money, Senator George Sekibo of Rivers East, called for the increased personnel costs in the budget.
Senator Bassey Akpan in his comment, lamented the high deficit in the budget and the poor management of foreign exchange rates, fiscal and monetary policies, but commended the budgetary allocation towards increasing Agricultural Production.
Some other Senators who contributed highlighted on the need to improve drastically the agricultural sector, which would practicalky make the economy to progress
