President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday in Abuja, rolled out a N4.93 trillion budget estimates for the 2013 fiscal year before the joint session of the National Assembly. The budget proposed cutting recurrent expenditure -- the cost of running the government to 68.7 percent of the total budget, from its current 71.47 percent with the rest allocated to capital expenditure, most infrastructure. Various allocations to key sectors of the economy showed that education got the lion share of N426.53 billion, followed by Defence with N348.91 billion, Police got N319.65 billion, Health got N279.23 billion, Works got N183.5 billion, Agriculture and Rural Development got N81.41 billion while Power got N74.26 billion. Federal Government projected revenue is predicated on oil projection of 2.53 million barrel per day production and crude oil bench mark of US$75/barrel, as against the $72 per barrel in 2012 budget. Jonathan added that the government would issue a $1 billion Eurobond next year, to finance a gas pipeline for domestic use. The plan saw the fiscal deficit coming down to 2.17 percent of GDP, from 2.85 percent previously, assuming the economy grows at 6.5 percent, he said -- a lower projection than this year’s expected 6.85 percent growth. President Jonathan also revealed that the 2013 budget ia anchored on four pillar: Fiscal Consolidation, Macro Economic stability, Budget Restructuring and reduction of waste and corruption. Highlighting some key aspects of his Fiscal policy, President Jonathan announced zero percent duty for local production of sugar and related products and a tax holiday for local manufacturing. Aircraft parts for local operation are also to attract zero percent import duties and VAT. On the strategic plans to diversify the economy, Jonathan unveiled plans to offer zero percent import duty and zero percent VAT for machinery and equipment imported for use in the solid minerals sector will now . He added "To encourage Public Mass Transit vehicle assembly in Nigeria, the president told the National Assembly that government would be reducing duty on Completely Knocked Down components (CKD) for mass transit buses of at least 40-seater capacity, to zero percent, down from five percent. “Government is desirous of supporting green growth and, in this regard, will explore options for providing incentives for energy efficient vehicles from the 2014 fiscal year.” Speaking earlier, Senate president, David Mark emphasised the need for a more transparent management of the nations resources especially in the midst of current campaign for anti corruption and due process in the management of the nations resources. He also warned on the need for the Executive to respect the roles of the Legislature in making input into budget. In his submission, however Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal berated the implementation level of various capital projects under the 2012 Appropriation Act. He said "As I speak, interim field oversight reports from House Committees on the 2012 budget implementation are clearly unimpressive both in terms of releases as well as utilization and this is a great challenge to all of us. It is important to state at this point the clear provisions of Section 8 of the Appropriation Act to the effect that approved budgeted funds shall be released to MDAs “as at when due”. This is sadly observed more in breach. "The Composition of the Public Procurement Council provided under the Public Procurement Act is very critical to budget implementation. "The sanctity of extant legislations and respect for the rule of law are critical hallmarks of true democracy, we therefore once more call on Mr. President to expeditiously constitute this council so as to free the Federal Executive Council (FEC) from the burden of contract administration, so they can concentrate on the more sublime issues of their constitutional roles and responsibilities. Incidentally, the present Constitution of the Bureau of Public Procurement has been identified as one of the bottlenecks to effective capital budget implementation." Tambuwal who expressed concern over the high rate of external and domestic borrowing, frowned at the figures emanating from the Debt Management Office (DMO) regarding domestic borrowing. "At a whopping N33.6 billion government appears to be monopolizing domestic borrowing to the unhealthy exclusion of the private sector. This is certainly a matter of grave concern because global statistics on sustainable debt-GDP ratio percentages can not continue to be used as guide for an economy that is not keeping pace with global trends. "In our effort to address this concern, only yesterday, in passing the 2013-2015 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), which is the basis for annual Budgets, the House resolved to raise the oil price benchmark from $75 per barrel to $80 per barrel with the objective that the difference of $5 per barrel be channeled exclusively towards reducing the deficit in the budget and consequently reducing domestic borrowing for same purpose by 66%. "This will make available these loanable funds to our private sector which will stimulate the economy and jobs creation for our teeming unemployed youths. The House of Representatives however observed two critical omissions on the MTEF namely: (i) That the Revenue from Gas, running into billions of dollars, is not reflected, and (ii) External borrowing is similarly not reflected. "Another source of concern for the Legislature is the management of the excess crude revenues. Since 2010 the Appropriation Act has legislated that the excess crude component of the Federation Account be operated under separate records for purpose of transparency and accountability. Besides, Section 30 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act makes it mandatory for the Budget office to submit budget implementation Assessment reports to the National Assembly and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission on a quarterly basis and to publish same on Ministry of Finance Website. "The President may be unaware that the National Assembly is neither availed evidence of implementation of this policy along with the records of Federal Governments portion of the excess crude funds nor the quarterly implementation reports, as required under the two Acts. Mr. President may wish to give appropriate directives to ensure full and speedy compliance by relevant agencies. "The trend of Nigeria’s foreign reserves has taken an upward trajectory in recent months, on the back of steady production levels and robust oil prices. The latest figure for the country’s foreign reserve, as of 4th October 2012, stands at $41.48 billion, a 26- month high. "Concerns are however being expressed regarding the management and accounting reportage of our foreign reserve stock as to whether the figures reported are cumulative accruing inflows only or are inclusive of interests accruing from the management process or attributed to other sources of accretion. This matter becomes urgent especially when accruing management fees thereof is not reflected in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). "There must be transparency, accountability and probity in the management of our resources generally, given recent developments that indicate our exposure to unforeseen natural disasters. We certainly, for instance, cannot take the protection of our environment for granted. "Mr. President, on our part we wish to promise early passage and diligent monitoring. It is important to remind ourselves that Nigerians would want to see proof of that as quickly as possible. They no longer care for words, they insist on action. It is necessary that ministries, Departments, Agencies and all public functionaries concerned in the governance process are properly instructed on this fact so that they cease from considering beautiful excuses and explanations as achievements. "It remains for me to state once again that the pace of governance must take cognizance of the fact that the nation is grossly in arrears of its developmental potentials and expectations and accordingly a “business as usual” approach is totally unhelpful and unacceptable."