2021 budget can’t take Nigeria out of recession – Reps

The House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology on Monday said the provisions of 2021 budget proposal might not be able to lift Nigeria out of the current recession.

The committee said this after the Minister of Finance and National Planning and the Director-General of the Budget Office failed to appear before it to explain low allocations to important capital projects in the Ministry of Science and Technology and other Ministries Departments and Agencies in the 2021 budget.

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It blamed Nigeria’s developmental challenges on poor budgeting and allocation to the MDAs by the Ministry of Finance and Budget Office over the years.

The committee’s chairman, Beni Lar, said capital projects always suffered in Nigeria’s budget as they were starved of allocations; while frivolous line items were allocated 100 percent.

She said existing projects should be completed before embarking on new ones to avoid duplications and being carried forward into subsequent budgets.