The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) would henceforth redouble its efforts of regulating Nigeria’s fiscal policy space to enthrone a regime of fiscal discipline in the country.
Chairman of the Commission, Victor Muruako Esq. made this statement as opening remarks during a two weeks capacity building training organized and conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with the collaboration of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
He noted that the capacity training by the Bretton Woods institution was timely as it would imbue the Commission with up-to-date knowledge on fiscal policy regulation as it gears up to tackle increasing cases of contravention of the Fiscal Responsibility Act by many government agencies in the country.
Murano emphasized the readiness of the Commission to key into the opportunity provided by the training by refocusing on its watchdog role of ensuring a transparent and accountable government financial management framework in Nigeria.
He pledged to reposition the Commission as a top-notch regulatory agency in terms of quality staff with a focus on continuous learning and thanked the IMF for providing such an avenue.
The training program, which was conducted virtually through the Zoom application, aimed at improving the capacity of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission to effectively and efficiently carry out its mandate of enforcing the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, by exposing the staff to the Commission to the international best practices on fiscal policy management, among other objectives.
The capacity building focused on 8 modules which were Fiscal Objectives, Budget Preparation (Medium Term Fiscal Framework and Medium Term Budget Framework), an Overview of Budget Preparation, Budget Preparation (Fiscal Risks, Budget Execution, Audit as well as conclusion and way forward.
Participants in the training were senior staff from the directorate cadre as well as other senior-level positions in the Commission.
The capacity development partnership between FRC and IMF continues in 2023 when the focus will be on areas not covered in this year’s training.
The Fiscal Responsibility Commission was established by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, of 2007, to ensure the promotion and enforcement of the nation’s economic objectives, among other functions.