Clinton Njaka, Abuja
The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) will embark on verification of capital projects across the country today, The Nation can authoritatively report.
The Commission is embarking on the verification exercise in preparation for the commencement of the January to December budget cycle from next year.
Addressing journalists on the planned verification exercise at the weekend, Barr Victor Chinemerem appealed to the federal government to better fund the verification exercise so that it can be conducted frequently.
This, he said, “Will aid in identifying gaps in the budgetary process and proffering solutions.”
Capital releases under the 2019 budget began in the third quarter which explains the delay of the commencement of the exercise.
Barr Victor Chinemerem noted that since 2009, the Commission has been “involved in assessing the government’s Fiscal policies, plans, rules and performance against macroeconomic objectives.”
Read Also: Increase taxes without affecting poor citizens- Okowa tells revenue body
The FRC he explained carry’s out “institutional oversight for federal government capital expenditure.”
The FRC’s main purpose, he said, is to visit the selected projects sites and make reports on observations and findings; and thereafter, make recommendations in accordance with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, FRA, 2007.
Chinemerem identified the challenges typically encountered during the course of the exercise.
The FRC boss stated that the projects were selected based on information received from the MDAs as against old practice of the Commission relying on information contained in the Budget Implementation Reports submitted to the Commission.
He lamented that in recent times there have been delays in receiving the document from the budget office.
Leave a Reply