19th March, 2014
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday submitted and defended its 2014 budget proposal before the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Finance. It was the first time that the CBN would do so.
The budget was presented to the house by Mr Suleiman Barau, Deputy Governor in charge of Corporate Services, who also defended the bank’s 2013 performance at the session.
Barau said that the CBN had projected N553 billion as expected income with a projected expenditure profile of N377 billion for 2014.
Presenting its performance chart for its 2013, Barau said that the CBN overshot its 2013 expenditure by more than N326 billion.
He said the bank projected N413 billion as its expenditure for 2013 but ended up spending N739 billion.
Barau told the committee that the bulk of the 2013 excess expenditure was spent on “liquidity management’’ of the country’s economy.
He said the bank earmarked N180 billion for liquidity management but ended up spending N536 billion.
The Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency, Rep. Jones Onyereri (PDP- Imo), then requested for complete details of the bank’s staff nominal roll.
The CBN under its suspended governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had a running battle with the Senate as he insisted on CBN’s independence based on the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act and the CBN Act.
Sanusi insisted that the apex bank would not subject itself to the Appropriation Act of the National Assembly.