The Federal Government said it has spent N3.4 trillion of the last year budget on capital expenses as at November.
This represents 74 per cent capital budget performance of the 2021 budget for which N4.569 trillion is estimated to be spent in the 2021 budget year on capital expenditure.
Of N3.40 trillion released, N2.98 trillion or 83 per cent was released to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for capital projects; N369.9 billion was for Multilateral/Bilateral Project-tied loans, and N49.52 billion to Government Owned Enterprises (GOEs) Capital Expenditure,
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Mrs. Zainab Ahmed confirmed the releases yesterday in Abuja at the symbolic cheque presentation ceremony of 2021 sovereign sukuk issue proceeds of N250 billion to the implementing ministries.
The ministries that benefited from sukuk proceeds are the Ministries of Works and Housing, Federal Capital Territory and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
Mrs Ahmed said N250 billion will be released as part of the capital expenditure in the 2021 appropriation which is still in operation till March 2022.
Yesterday’s release of N250 billion sukuk bond proceeds was the fourth in the series of sukuk proceeds deployed to fund road projects from 2017 to date.
So far, N362.557 billion sukuk proceeds have been handed over to MDAs involved in road rehabilitation and construction. The symbolic cheque presentation was witnessed by the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Minister of FCT Mallam Mohammed Bello and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
On December 29, 2021 the Debt Management Office (DMO) raised N250 billion on behalf of the Federal Government for the three ministries to carry out road projects. The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing received N210,565,000,000.00; Federal Capital Territory Administration N29,000,000,000.00; and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs N10,435,000,000.00.
The Finance Minister stated that “the government will continue to prioritize spending on critical infrastructure in order to sustain the momentum on GDP growth. As you may be aware, the GDP is projected to grow by 4.20per cent in 2022. This can only be possible through steady increase in spending on critical infrastructure, such as roads”.
Speaking at the occasion, Mr Fashola (SAN) said: “Recall in 2016 or thereabout, there was recession. The Economic Management Team is tasked to mobilize capital for infrastructure partly to ease cost of doing business, transportation of goods and people. One of the funding sources adopted was sukuk. As soon as announced, hell was let lose. They claim its adoption was to Islamize Nigeria. The first sukuk, N100 billion was applied equitably to each zone. In the fullness of time, people began to see its usefulness”.
Earlier in her opening remarks, the Director-General, DMO, Ms. Patience Oniha said deploying Sukuk proceeds to fund infrastructure projects aligns with one of the strategic objectives of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, which is the development of infrastructure.
“Improvement in infrastructure due to its multiplier effects is widely accepted as one of the best means of creating jobs, supporting and attracting new business and promoting overall growth and development,” DMO chief said.