CONGRUENCE ANALYSIS BETWEEN MTEF (2013-2015) AND THE TRANSFORMATION AGENDA (2011-2015) - The National Association of Nigerian Traders NANTS

The federal budget of Nigeria otherwise called the Appropriation Act reflects government commitment to sectors of the economy and details expected revenue and expenditure for particular years. Furthermore the budget derives from the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) as stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 and MTEFs are guided for each administration by the development blueprint it adopts. 

The extant overarching national development plan is encapsulated in the National Vision 20:2020 (NV20: 2020) but the administration of President Goodluck E. Jonathan has cut a portion of the plan for focus during the years 2011-2015 and consequently developed a subset of the NV20:2020 termed Transformation Agenda (TA). MTEF 2013-2015 is ideally a derivative of the TA and actually the last that will be designed based on the present TA and therefore of critical importance since it provides the last expenditure framework to cater for all outstanding targets of the TA. It is against this background that it is imperative to review the proposed MTEF 2013-2015 against the targets of the TA and where necessary observe gaps and make suggestions/recommendations for ensuring that the Framework meets its expected function.