A move to check abuse of operational surpluses being declared by the Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) is in the offing as Senate has disclosed its intention to amend the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Speaking, on Monday, at a session with heads of the National Metrological Development Agency (NMDA) and Federal Government Staff Housing Loan Board, Senator representing Lagos West and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola said Senate was determined to curb frivolous spending by the MDAs.
He said the initiative would help to boost the revenue of the Federal Government and mitigate the yearly budget deficit.
He said: “The committee is forward-looking to the upcoming amendment of Fiscal Responsibility Act before us to jerk up government revenue. The idea of 80 per cent operational surplus is obsolete.
“The government has proposed 25 per cent, but we are proposing 60 per cent of your gross income to be deducted at source. So for every month, every revenue you generate, before you spend out of it, we will take 60 per cent of it. You are left with 40 per cent.
“At the end of the year, after your account must have been audited, we will still come after your 80 per cent operational surplus. This is what the committee is proposing.
“All the ideas of deducting depreciation, donations from organizations not approved, unwarranted expenditure, fixing of arbitrary salary and commission that is not approved by National Salaries and Wages Commission, all of these will be put to an end by the forthcoming amendment to the Fiscal Responsibility Act.”
Senator Adeola had last week at an interface with the Minister of Finance Zaynab Ahmed and Director of Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, revealed that over N3 trillion revenue were trapped in the coffers of Federal Government revenue-generating agencies under the guise of operational surpluses. He accused the agencies of failure to pay to the Consolidated Revenue Fund thereby violating the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
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Senate to amend fiscal responsibility act
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