Follow Us on Google
From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has proposed a budget of N561,820,596,524 for the 2023 fiscal year.
Christened ‘Budget of Seamless and Stable Transition’ the proposed estimate is the highest since 2015 when Okowa mounted the saddle.
Breakdown of the proposal showed that N235,208,340,101 representing 42% is for recurrent expenditure while capital expenditure has N326,612,256,423 representing 58%.
Presenting the budget proposal before the state House of Assembly for consideration and approval, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa said it will be funded with Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) – N95 billion; statutory allocation – N357,996,119,852; other capital receipts – N80,332,124,492.
To arrive at the estimates, the governor said the state took into consideration the “National Inflation (consumer prices), the real GDP growth, derived from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), and the Federal Government’s assumptions.”
He added that the benchmark for oil price of $70 per barrel; daily oil production benchmark of 1.69 million barrels; exchange rate of N435.57 per US dollar; and GDP growth projected at 3.75 percent and inflation closing at 17.16 percent, were also part of the framework for the estimates.
“We have painstakingly prepared an equitable, realistic, and implementable budget estimates in the context of multi-year (2021-2023) Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) that will be in line with the current economic realities,” he told the House.
Giving details of the sectoral breakdown of the capital expenditure, Okowa who is the vice presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said works, as always, took the lion share of N111.4 billion.
Okowa informed the House that his administration was irrevocably committed to infrastructural development.
He said “critical projects such as the multi-billion naira Orere Bridge and Access Road in Ughelli South Local Government Area,Trans Warri–Ode Itsekiri Bridges and Access Road Phase 1, Kwale-Beneku Bridge, and Ayakoromor Bridge will continue to receive priority attention and shall be completed before the tenure of this administration expires in May 2023.
“The dualization of Ughelli-Asaba Road (Sectors A and C2) is also expected to be completed next year. Coming on stream in the 2023 fiscal year is Okpanam Bypass linking Okpanam to Benin-Asaba Expressway.
“The Koka Flyover and Interchange, another flagship project of this administration, will be ready for commissioning in January next year.”
