President Muhammadu Buhari will next week present to the Joint National Assembly, the 2021 Appropriation Bill for subsequent consideration by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
In his welcome address after 67 days of annual recess by the Senators, the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan who disclosed this yesterday, also said that the Upper Chamber would ensure speedy passage of the budget; commending the level of work by its Joint Committee on Finance and National Planning on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).
Lawan has also disclosed that the country was confronted with an over $14billion revenue gap and the grim reality because of what he described as unwholesome overdependence on Oil, just as he stressed the urgent need for the country to focus on other important sectors like Agriculture, Solid Minerals, and Steel Development and manufacturing, with a view to diversifying the economy.
According to him, it has become very imperative for the Country to form a synergy with stakeholders to prevent the economy from going into a recession by stimulating the economy.
He said,
“We were confronted with an over $14billion revenue gap and the grim reality of an unwholesome overdependence on Oil.
We cannot overemphasize the need to focus on other important sectors like Agriculture, Solid Minerals, and Steel Development and manufacturing, with a view to diversifying our economy.
We need to work with relevant stakeholders to prevent our economy from going into a recession, stimulate the economy, save and create more jobs through a sustainable multiplier effect.”
