Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State on Wednesday presented the 2018 Appropriation Bill and budget estimates of N146billion to
the state House of Assembly for consideration.
The budget christened ‘The Budget of Growth’ is made
up of N66,797,615,689 for recurrent and N79,862,214,754 as capital expenditure.
Making the presentation, Obaseki assured the assembly
of his administration readiness to consolidate on the infrastructural and
socio-economic gains of the outgoing year 2017.
He commended the assembly Speaker and members for
their unprecedented support through their timely responses to request for
legislations and other forms of support to the executive arm of government.
According to the governor, “We have a budget size
of N146, 659,830,444 billion, which is a 15 percent nominal increase over the
2017 budget.
He explained that the “revenue estimates for the budget
are based on a $45 benchmark for crude oil and average daily production of 2.3
million barrels per day as well as an increase in Internally Generated Revenue
(IGR), as a result of reforms in revenue collection.”
Obaseki stated that the 2018 budget would build on
the recovery witnessed in 2017, and stressed that “We intend to revitalise the
state economy by increasing capital spending, hence, we envisage a capital/recurrent
expenditure ratio of (54:46percent) which highlights our vision to grow with
cash receipts capped at N120,099,830,443.52 to be sourced from statutory
allocation, IGR and grants."
Analysing the budget estimates, the governor said:
“A larger part of the 2018 budget will be devoted to the development of
physical and social infrastructure across the state to improve the standard of
living of Edo State people
“Our government will consolidate on the gains we
have made in wooing investors to the state. Alaghodaro Investment Summit was a
huge success and I must thank the Speaker and members of the state assembly for
your support for the laudable initiative. We have been bombarded by enquiries
from all over the world after the investment summit as investors have come to
accept that Edo State is indeed ready for business. This budget is expected to
drive growth and progress in all sectors of the state.”
The priority areas in the proposed 2018 capital expenditure
framework, he explained “are social and physical infrastructure for which we
have earmarked N51 billion. We will take advantage of the dry season to
reconstruct several bad roads and build new ones across the state to boost
socio-economic activities. We have already commenced the procurement process
for the roads through advertisements in major national newspapers.”
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