Appraising the Impact of Budgeting and Planning on the Performance of Financial Institutions in Nigeria

This study seeks to undertake a comprehensive and analytical appraisal into the impact of budgeting and planning on the performance of financial institutions in Nigeria. Attention is primarily on the policies to be considered in developing Budgeting and Planning programmes, to determine the factors responsible for rigidities and structural imbalance in budgeting and planning programmes of Nigerian Banks, and to subsequently appraise the impact of budgeting and planning on their effective performance. To achieve this, the related views and literatures of notable authorities in this area of study were brought under review. Primary source of data collection was utilized through well structured questionnaires raised and administered to respondents made up of management and non-management staff of selected institutions. Interviews and participant observation conducted at the convenience of the respondents were added as supplements. The findings revealed that budgetary and planning programmes are restricted to few top management staff of Nigerian Banks, but indicated that budgeting and planning can be utilized as a major policy instrument to align commercial banking operations with the policy framework of regulatory bodies, particularly the Central Bank of Nigeria. It was also discovered that overtime budgeting and planning has impacted positively on effective performance of Nigerian banks. It is recommended that for greater improvements in overall operations and for maximum impact of budgetary provisions, financial institutions as a whole must function as a single system, in which all its constituent units are intimately inter-linked. Keywords: Banking Industry, Budgeting, Control, Financial Institution, Nigeria, Plannin