Kaduna State approves fiscal responsibility bill

The Kaduna State Executive Council, on Tuesday approved a draft Bill for the establishment of a Fiscal Responsibility Commission for the state.

Briefing newsmen after a meeting of the council in Kaduna, the Commissioner of Finance, , Suleiman Kwari, said the bill would be forwarded to the State House of assembly for approval.

He explained that the commission would be an independent body responsible for monitoring and enforcement of laws on public spending.

The commissioner said that adequate provisions had been made in the bill to punish offenders.

“The Fiscal Responsibility Bill is designed to help protect the state from fiscal indiscipline by reforming public financial management.

“The absence of a guiding framework for fiscal policy by previous governments has seen the state become one of the most indebted in the country.

“The new government has decided to pursue macro-fiscal discipline in compliance with the rules so as to attain budget credibility,” he said.

Kwari said the that the essence of coming up with the bill, was to ensure that budget deficits would no longer exceed five per cent of aggregated government revenue.

The commissioner reminded ministries, departments and agencies of the laws that prohibited receipt of cash payments from members of the public, warning that no defaulter would be spared.