By Christopher Isiguzo and Gideon Arinze
Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, yesterday presented a budget proposal of one hundred and sixty nine billion, eight hundred and forty five million, seven hundred and fifty eight thousand, five hundred naira (N169, 845, 758,500) for the 2021 fiscal year to the state House of Assembly for consideration and passage.
Presenting the budget proposal tagged: ‘Budget of Recovery and Continued Growth’, Ugwuanyi disclosed that through the budget, his administration intended to further create an environment that would encourage full human and capital development in the state.
He noted that the budget size is 13.8 percent higher than that of 2020 which he said stood at N169, 557, 658, 300 billion, before it was later reduced as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, the increment is to enable his administration further improve on human capital as well as infrastructural development in the state, especially in urban areas.
He noted that the revenue and expenditure performance captured in the 2020 budget was a huge success as his administration recorded massive achievements in the areas of infrastructure, health, security, urban development, transport, water, education, women and youth empowerment, commerce and industry among others.
The governor stated that the successes recorded by his administration in the past five years was as a result of the political stability in the state, efficient institutions of governance, improved security of lives and property, provision of critical infrastructure as well as consistent economic policy.
He stated that out of the N169.845 billion budget proposal, recurrent expenditure stood at N68.71 billion, representing 39 percent of the total budget size while capital expenditure stood at 101.1billion, representing 60 percent of the total budget size.
Ugwuanyi pointed out that national inflation rate of 10.8 percent; national real GDP growth of 2.93 percent, oil production benchmark of 2.18 million barrels per day, oil price benchmark of $55 per barrel and an exchange rate of N305 per US dollar, were the macro and micro economic indicators that informed his administration’s projections for the 2020 budget proposal.
The governor further disclosed that the aforementioned remarkable achievements have created opportunities for private sector participation in the economic development process of the state.
Ugwuanyi noted that his administration is hoping to attain a 50 percent increase in the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which according to him, has remained a major boost to the economic growth experienced in the state.
