The Senate has invited the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo-Udoma to throw more light on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, which formed the basis for the formulation of the 2017 – 2019 budget proposals.
This was contained in a letter signed by Senate Leader, Ali Ndume.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had forwarded the MTEF document to both the Senate and the House of Representatives for consideration and approval.
The letter sent to the budget minister read in part, “To enable the Senate objectively review the MTEF from a wholistic fiscal perspective, we deem it necessary to invite you to a meeting to brief the leadership of the Senate on Tuesday, 1st November, 2016, at the National Assembly by 2pm.”
The senate requested Udo-Udo to furnish it, ahead of the meeting, with the following documents: “The Medium-Term Development Plan (even a draft copy) upon which the 2017-2019 MTEF is founded; a comprehensive report on the implementation of the 2016 budget (as at third quarter, September 30); all fiscal rates, taxes, charges, etc., used to derive the projected revenue in the 2017-2019 MTEF; and a report on the structure/composition of the debt, funding sources, how the borrowed funds are to be spent as well as repayment plan and schedule.”
Ndume also noted that Senate’s debate on the MTEF had been postponed until next week; it was earlier scheduled for this week.