Delta state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa on Friday present a fiscal proposal of N298.078 billion he tagged a budget of hope and economic consolidation for the services of Delta State Government in 2018.
The 2018 budget proposal shows an increase of N3.62bn or 1.21%, compared to the 2017 approved budget of N294.4bn and comprises the sum of N147.5bn or 49.48% for recurrent expenditure, andN150.5 or 50.52% for capital expenditure.
The proposed recurrent expenditure estimates for 2018 of N147.5bn is made up of personnel costs of N64.3bn or 43.36%, and overhead costs of N46.8bn or 31.56%., while the proposed capital expenditure estimates for 2018 is N150.6bn., which proposal is N14.1bn or 9.39% higher than the 2017 capital budget of N136.4bn. and the Consolidated Revenue Fund Charges has a proposed sum of N37.23bn or 25.09%.
Governor Okowa said the philosophy behind the proposed 2018 Budget is formulated within the context of the successes and challenges of the past two years, as it seeks to essentially consolidate the gains of the past as while striving to build an economy that works.
He explained that proposed 2018 fiscal blueprint is derived from the Fiscal Strategy Paper projections for years 2018 to 2020 and in compliance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
According to the governor, more than half the 2018 budget would derive from statutory allocationsprojected at the sum of N178.1bn or 59.73%, using the forecast derived from the State’s Fiscal Strategy Paper as a guide, while noting that this amount is more than the sum of N148.9bn projected for the 2017 fiscal year by N29.1bn or 16.35%.
Okowa said “the increase is based on the optimism that the current peaceful atmosphere in the Niger Delta region will be sustained and that, with the relative peace being experienced, some of the oil companies who vacated the region will return to the State”, adding that the gradual improvements the Federal Government has recorded in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors will continue to also impact positively on the overall expected returns in the 2018 fiscal year.
Governor Okowa is optimistic that with the reforms his administration is undertaking in revenue collection and the plugging of leakages in all revenue sources, complemented by the anticipated return of oil producing companies to Delta State, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) base of the state will soar in the forthcoming year.
“It is, therefore, our projection to generate the sum of N71.3bn as internally generated revenue in 2018, representing 23.94% of the total projected revenues. The IGR estimates for 2018 is higher than the 2017 approved estimates by N1.1b or 1.67%”, he predicted.
Other Capital Receipts for the 2018 budget was scaled down from the sum of N64.8bn in the 2017 budget to N37.9bn or 71.09% in 2018 and the governor hinged the reduction on the overriding objective to reduce the loan burden on the State.
Reviewing the 2017 approved budget performance, Senator Okowa said the budget size was based on revenue projections from the State’s Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), a key element in the Medium Term Economic Framework (MTEF) and annual budget process that determines the aggregate resources available to fund the Government’s projects and programmes from a fiscally sustainable perspective.
According to him, between January and September 2017 the state government generated N127.1b, representing a performance of 57.5% over the expected proportionate revenue receipts of N220.8b of which the sum of N83.6b was received as Statutory Allocation from the Federation Account, representing 74.9% performance over the proportionate estimate of N111.7b.
Under the review, the sum of N8.3b was recorded as receipts from Value Added Tax (VAT) out of the proportionate projected estimates of N7.8b, representing a budget performance of 106.21% for the period under review, while the sum of N35.0b was recorded as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) out of the proportionate projected revenue of N52.6bn, representing a budget performance of 66.67%.
Sectoral highlights of the proposals for capital projects as contained in the 2018 budget estimates are: the sum of N1.2bn for job creation scheme; N49.3b for road infrastructure; N1.66bn forAgriculture; N18.7 bn Education; N6.6bn for Health; N1.2bn for Contributory Health Scheme; N2.2billion Environment and Urban Renewal and N3bDelta State Capital Territory Development Agency.
Source: Daily Trust
