PRESIDENT OBASANJO UNVEILS 2007 BUDGET

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ABUJA 002863 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE PASS TO USTR FOR C. HAMILTON TREASURY FOR LUKAS KOHLER/DAN PETERS USDOC FOR 3317/ITA/OA/KBURRESS USDOC FOR 3130/USFC/OIO/ANESA/DHARRIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN ECON NI SUBJECT: PRESIDENT OBASANJO UNVEILS 2007 BUDGET REF: ABUJA 2644 THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On October 11 President Obasanjo presented a 2.3 trillion naira ($18 billion) 2007 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly (NA). The budget represents a 21 percent increase over the 1.9 trillion naira authorized in the 2006 budget. The unveiled 2007 budget is nearly identical to what we reported in reftel except for the target exchange rate which decreased from 127 naira per $1 to 126 naira per $1, and the decreased targeted inflation rate from 10 to 9 percent. Also, included in the budget are planned reductions in the petroleum subsidy. In addition, the three tiers of government have committed to jointly execute major development projects in the railway, power and liquefied natural gas sectors with large a foreign exchange components of USD 37.3 billion that will be financed not from the budget but from the excess crude account. The 2007 budget continues to point Nigeria on the path to economic growth, but problem areas remain and could be exacerbated because of the 2007 elections. End Summary. -------------- Atmospherics -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Security was unusually tight at the NA on budget day. The President came earlier than expected and this embarrassingly led to several government agencies heads being refused entry to the chambers. More troubling was the absence of Vice President Atiku Abubakar. (COMMENT: His absence might be connected with the embarrassment he received from the president last year during the presentation of 2006 budget or their ongoing political feud being played out publicly. Some observers said his name was left out on purpose in the order of protocol. END COMMENT) -------------- Senators Discuss Speech -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Rumors circulated that the Senate President, Ken Nnamani, was notified that some NA members were planning to embarrass President Obasanjo during the presentation. Last year a member of the House of Representatives interrupted the President during the budget address accusing him of not implementing the previous year's budget. Senator Nnamani appealed to members of the NA to not let this happen again and there were no interruptions. Following the speech, Nnamani said he hoped the budget would be passed before the end of the year. However, Nnamani was skeptical of whether early passage would lead to funds being released to ministries, departments and agencies on time. ¶4. (SBU) In conversations with Senator Faruk Bello (a vocal member of the Senate),he said that the proposed projects to be jointly funded and executed from the excess crude account are unconstitutional because all proposed spending must be done via appropriation and approved by both houses of the NA. According to Bello, Obasanjo hardly adheres to the constitution, and challenging the constitutionality of his actions in the past has not garnered much support. Moreover, he said so much noise has been made over the manner in which the excess crude account has been manipulated, even though the President does not have constitutional authority and continues to maintain and spend from the account. -------------- Budget Parameters -------------- ¶5. (U) According to President Obasanjo, the theme of the 2007 budget is to "Accelerate Investments in Basic Physical Infrastructure and Human Resource Capital." In line with this theme the budget provides support to the GON's ongoing work in the areas of electricity, water, roads, security, education, and health. Specifically, the budget is made up of statutory transfers of 102 billion naira ($803 million); debt service of 326 billion naira ($2.6 billion); and spending of 1.8 trillion naira ($14.2 billion) on the ministries, departments, and agencies. ¶6. (U) As reported in reftel the 2007 budget remained the same except for changes in the exchange rate and target inflation rate. For ease of reference the budget parameters are repeated here with the new changes noted. -- Crude oil benchmark price of $40 per barrel, up from $35 per barrel. -- Crude oil production of 2.5 million barrels per day (mbpd),no ABUJA 00002863 002 OF 004 change. -- Joint venture cash calls of $ 4.5 billion, up from $4.20 billion. -- GDP growth of 10 percent, up from 6.9 percent. -- Inflation rate at 9 percent, down from 10.9 percent. -- Exchange rate of 126 naira to $1, down from 129 naira. -- Value added tax (VAT) rate of 10 percent, no change from 2006 based on the expectation that the tax bill would be passed in 2006. -- Weighted average duty rate of 17 percent, no change. -- Weighted average interest rate of 9 percent, down from 13 percent. -------------- Revenue and Expenditures -------------- ¶7. (U) Proposed revenues, expenditures and the budget deficit remain the same as reported in reftel, but are again repeated. Estimated gross consolidated revenues of 4.3 trillion naira ($33.8 billion) comprised of oil (3.2 trillion naira) and non-oil revenue (1.1 trillion naira) will accrue to the federation account. Outflows from the federation account will be distributed to the three tiers of government - federal, state and local. The GON's appropriation will be the lions share of 1.765 trillion naira ($13.9 billion) from the federation account. -------------- Ministries, Departments and Agencies Spending -------------- ¶8. (U) President Obasanjo announced that the estimated spending by federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) would be 1.8 trillion naira ($14.2 billion) which represents a 21 percent increase over that in the 2006 budget. Recurrent (non-debt) expenditures including payroll and overhead account for 57 percent of MDA spending, while capital expenditures account for 43 percent. The proposed spending comprises 652 billion naira ($5 billion) for payroll, a 3.8 percent increase; overhead of 405 billion naira ($3.2 billion),an increase of 24.1 percent; and capital expenditures of 781 billion naira ($6 billion),an increase of 38.1 percent. -------------- Statutory Transfers -------------- ¶9. (U) Total estimated statutory transfers in 2007 will be 102 billion naira ($803 million). -- 43 billion naira ($338 million) to the National Judicial Council, a twenty-three percent increase. -- 24 billion naira ($189 million) to the Niger Delta Development Commission, an 8 percent decrease. -- 35 billion ($275 million) to the Universal Basic Education Commission, representing a thirteen percent increase. -------------- Debt Service -------------- ¶10. (U) At the end of June 2006 the total debt stock was 2.4 trillion naira ($18.9 billion),comprising domestic debt of 1.8 trillion naira ($14.2 billion),and external debt of 616 billion naira (4.8 billion). Also, the 20 percent increase in domestic debt from 1.5 trillion naira ($11.8 billion) to 1.8 trillion naira ($14.2 billion) was due to the planned payment of contractor and pension arrears amounting to 150 billion naira ($1.18 billion),and 75 billion naira ($590 million) respectively. ¶11. (U) In addition, the cost of servicing domestic debt is estimated at 265 billion naira ($2.1 billion),and it includes an amount set aside for the Central Bank of Nigeria for liquidity management, while 61 billion naira ($480 million) will be used for external debt service. Obasanjo reported that the GON is close to finalizing a strategy that would clear its London Club debts as well as the outstanding promissory notes. He said that it is expected that by mid-2007, Nigeria's external debt would comprise only multilateral and bilateral (non-Paris Club) debts. -------------- Petroleum Products Subsidy -------------- ¶12. (U) Obasanjo announced a planned reduction in the budget figure for the petroleum subsidy from 75 billion naira ($590 million) to 50 billion naira (394 million). The total budget amount is 100 billion ($787 million),and the additional 50 billion naira ($394 million) ABUJA 00002863 003 OF 004 was carried forward as a result of a shortfall in the 2006 budget. Although 75 billion naria ($590 million) was provided in the 2006 budget, 120 billion naira ($945 million) had already been spent by mid-2006, while the subsidy is expected to increase to Naira 250 billion by the end of 2006. The GON's share of the expenditure would be 125 billion naira ($984 million). This 50 billion naira ($394 million) shortfall has been provided for in the 2007 budget. -------------- 2007 General Elections -------------- ¶13. (U) Obasanjo reported that 27 billion naira ($212 million) has been earmarked for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the 2007 budget to adequately prepare for the upcoming general elections. He also mentioned that 55 billion naira ($433 million) had been provided to INEC in 2006. -------------- -------------- Excess Crude Account - Financing Development Projects -------------- -------------- ¶14. (U) The budget contains a plan by the three tiers of government to jointly execute and fund outside the budget, six major developmental projects with large foreign exchange components from the excess crude account. (Note: The excess crude account is where all monies from the sale of crude oil above the budget benchmark price are funneled. End Note). The Minister of Finance will present a detailed breakdown of the projects to the NA at a future date. The proposed projects are in railways, power generation, and oil and gas. -- $8.3 billion to be spent over the next four years on railways to lay new standard gauge double tracks with a speed of 150 kilometer per hour from Lagos to Kano via Abuja, Minna, and Kaduna. -- $3.8 billion for the first phase of the Niger-Delta Integrated Power Plants, including transmission, and provision of gas. -- $3.2 billion over the next four years on the Mambilla Hydro Power Project; while $1.7 billion is expected to be spent over the next four years to increase the generation capacity of Geregu, Alaoji, Papalanto, and Omotosho power plants by 2,300 MW. -- $20.3 billion on two liquefied natural gas projects. Specifically, $9.8 billion for equity investment in the OK LNG Plant; $2.0 billion for the OK Pipeline project; and $8.5 billion as equity investment in the Brass LNG Plant. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶15. (SBU) The GON should be commended for its continued use of a medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF)in developing the budget, because it ensures easy, continuous planning and leads to the completion of projects. The MTEF is also being advocated in the Fiscal Responsibility Bill now in the NA, but passage within the remaining election year is questionable. This bill will also impact state and local governments and improve transparency for money allocated from the federation account. Moreover, the plan's intention to pay contractor and pension arrears would reduce the government's liabilities and resuscitate businesses and individuals that had been groaning as a result of this non-payment. ¶16. (SBU) The proposal to embark on massive infrastructure development especially in the railway sector, though late in the administration's tenure, would provide an alternative to Nigeria's decrepit highways. Proposed infrastructure development, if completed, will greatly reduce the cost of doing business in Nigeria. The single-digit inflation target of nine percent might not be achieved because of the planned reduction in the subsidy on petroleum products. The planned reduction would likely lead to an increase in the price of petroleum products, which would further fuel increases in goods and prices of goods and services. ¶17. (SBU) The planned development projects in oil and gas, power, and railways, though of high foreign currency content, will definitely have some local content. The president claims that the planned spending would not have an adverse effect on the exchange rate and inflation because: -- A large percentage of the spending is in foreign exchange; public expenditure management has been strengthened; -- The current level of foreign exchange reserves would help ensure that expenditures are paid for without having significant adverse effects on the exchange rate; -- Some funds have been allocated in the budget for the Central Bank to manage liquidity. ABUJA 00002863 004 OF 004 However, we underscore that the Central Bank has always been overwhelmed by the problem of excess liquidity in the system, and there are no signs that 2007 will be different. ¶18. (SBU) Budget implementation continues to present itself as the major hurdle to budget performance in Nigeria, and there are no signs of a departure from this in 2007. Capital budgets are hardly ever implemented satisfactorily, and it is unlikely that this trend will change in 2007. This is even made more serious because 2007 is an election year and the new government is expected to be sworn in by May 29, 2007. Even if the budget becomes law before the end of 2006, there is no guarantee that the funds for projects will be released on time. ¶19. (SBU) Moreover, in an election year politicians seeking elective offices are likely to consider increased expenditures. Applying this calculus, spending on constituency projects across the country could fuel inflation. During President Obasanjo's presentation he coyly said "the budget is the last budget of our administration". These comments caused consternation among some members of the National Assembly who thought he should have said it was the last budget of the administration's tenure. These same members are of the opinion that Obasanjo's statement was a signal that the President may try to extend his tenure. CAMPBELL