Delayed budget signing not damaging to economy, says Okonjo-Iweala

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Friday said that the delay in the signing of the 2014 budget into law has not hampered the running of the economy in any way.

Onkonjo-Iweala, who was speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, said the government had been able to run the economy based on the provisions of Section 82 of the constitution, which made it legal for the government to continue implementing the previous year’s budget by 60 per cent.

“The effects of the delayed passage have been relatively minimal,” she noted.

She observed that the 2014 budget is exceptionally important for the new policies encapsulated in it.

One of the policies, which relates to the housing sector, is mortgage refinancing.

The policy, under the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Corporation, was launched at the beginning of the year by President Goodluck Jonathan, and it is geared towards enabling low-income earners own houses.

She added that the government would begin to advertise the initial 10,000 mortgage for the benefit of Nigerians in June.

Another key policy the budget contains, according to the minister, is in the manufacturing sector.

“The budget is designed to kick off certain sectors in manufacturing and create jobs,” Dr Okonjo-Iweala said, adding that the backward integration policy for sugar, which was designed to encourage local production of sugar, is one aspect under manufacturing “supported” by the budget.

She said that the automotive industry was also given focus in the budget to enhance the production of affordable cars for Nigerians. The other sectors she highlighted were aviation and agriculture.

Onkonjo-iweala further said the Executive and the Legislature had reached a common ground on previous concerns of “budget distortion” by the Ministry of Finance.