<article><p>Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Timothy Massad today defended his agency's request for an additional $72mn in funding in 2016.</p><p>President Barack Obama's budget for the 2016 fiscal year requests $322mn for the CFTC, up from $280mn requested in 2015. In 2015, the agency received a $250mn budget. Massad told a House Appropriations subcommittee that the agency needs the extra funds for technology upgrades. </p><p>"We must expand our data operations and collections systems to meet our vastly expanded data collection responsibilities as well as the increasing technological complexity of our traditional markets," Massad said.</p><p>Nearly 40pc of the requested increase would be devoted to the data and technology departments, which Massad said will help the agency better analyze the 300mn records per day. The huge volume of data means the agency has a 35pc increase in intake and storage needs annually. </p><p>"With the current level of funding, the CFTC cannot fulfill all of its new duties and continue to meet its traditional ones in a timely and thorough manner that the American people deserve and expect," Massad said. </p><p>Subcommittee chairman Robert Aderholt (R-Alabama) said the total budget for agricultural appropriations is very likely to remain the same as the 2015 budget and must be shared among the CFTC, the Food and Drug Administration and a majority of the Department of Agriculture.</p><p>kp/dcb</p><p><br> Send comments to <a href="mailto:feedback@argusmedia.com" target="_parent"> feedback@argusmedia.com </a></p><p><u><a href="http://www.argusmedia.com/Info/General/News" target="_TOP"> Request more information </a></u> about Argus' energy and commodity news, data and analysis services. </p><p><i> Copyright © 2015 Argus Media Ltd - <a href="http://www.argusmedia.com/" target="_TOP"> www.argusmedia.com </a> - All rights reserved. </i></p></article>
