A Financial Analyst, Mr Momoh Aliyu has urged the National Assembly (NASS) to ensure speedy passage of the 2019 budget in the overall interest of the country.
Aliyu, the Managing Director of Cyber1 Systems Network International, made the call in an interview in Abuja on Wednesday.
The managing director, who was sharing his views on the economic prospects of the country in 2019, said its progress should be the focus of every Nigerian.
According to him, the national interest should be placed over and above partisan and personal interests.
He said that passing the appropriation bill in good time would help to remove economic uncertainty, though, the president had the constitutional right to spend a certain percentage of the budget before its passage by the lawmakers.
According to him, the delay in preparing and passage of the budget by the Executive and the National Assembly is creating uncertainty for investors and other stakeholders.
“If there is no working document like budget, the economy will be going through a lot of uncertainty as stakeholders will not be able to plan.
“Uncertainty is the bedrock of underdevelopment in any country,’’ he said.
The financial expert noted that the country was expected to have critical 2019, owing to the fact that it had come out of recession and the 2019 budget was also anticipated to enhance debt repayment.
“ Although the country has a moderate growth, but cannot be compared to figures in the last three years budget.
“Global economy has had a moderate growth against expected growth, so Nigeria faced the last oil price crash with little fiscal savings but with a decent level of reserves,’’ he added.
Aliyu noted that Nigeria’s economic growth was well below the population growth, pointing out that no amount of economic boost could easily be seen or noticed in such a situation.
“We have borrowed well over N10.2 trillion in the last three years and this money is meant for infrastructure development and some of these projects are expected to be completed in 2019.’’ (NAN)
