OSHIOMHOLE PRESENTS N149BN BUDGET FOR 2012

By NBF News

Edo State government has proposed a budget of N148.87 billion for its services in the 2012 fiscal year. The 2012 budget is N14.98 billion higher than that of 2011, which was N133.89 billion.

The Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who announced this while presenting the budget estimate to the state's House of Assembly yesterday, explained the budget is made up of N84.9 billion capital expenditure and N63.97 recurrent expenditure.

He said the budget would be financed from recurrent receipt of N105.42 billion and capital receipt of N47.65 billion.

A break down of the recurrent receipt shows that the state is expected to earn N51 billion from statutory allocation, internally generated revenue N23.92 billon, 13 percent oil derivation fund N12 billion; excess crude oil reserve, N3billion; budget augmentation, N2.5 billion; multi-lateral debt refund, N4 billion and value added tax N9 billion.

The capital receipt, on the other hand, is made up of transfer consolidated revenue fund, N41, 46 billion; opening, N5 billion; grant, N6 billion; ecological fund, N2 billion and miscellaneous/contingencies, N2 billion.

The governor announced that the budget contains a projected deficit of N28.44 billion to be funded through the World Bank budget support facility and additional credit lines.

Oshiomhole explained that the budget, tagged 'Budget of Continuity,' has the primary objectives of accelerated completion of ongoing infrastructural projects; extension of infrastructural projects to additional communities and critical areas of deficit; equipments and maintenance of completed and existing infrastructure and employment and wealth creation.

Besides, he said the budget is also aimed at improving the delivery capacity of public institutions and personnel, as an overall strategy to enhance the quality of governance, adding that it was constituent with the believe of his administration that 'government must work optimally to deliver development to the greatest number of our people, at the most reasonable cost and in the shortest possible time.'

The governor explained that the high recurrent expenditure component of the budget was due largely to the implementation of the new wage structure and the need to provide for the emolument of professional staff to be recruited in key MDAs.

'Despite the huge recurrent obligations, we have structured the 2012 budget to allocate more resources to infrastructure and projects on a 57 percent to 43 percent ratio, in favour of capital expenditure,' Oshiomhole said.