Lagos State has effected a cut in its 2020 budget following revenue pressures resulting from coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Total expenditure is now N920.5 billion, less by N248 billion from the 1.168 trillion it had budgeted. The State’s Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Sam Egube, who announced this some minutes ago stated that the new figures would be presented to the House of Assembly for approval soon.
He listed some of the factors that necessitated the review of the budget include “fall in crude oil prices with deleterious effects on statutory allocation expectations, downward pressure on its Internally Generated Revenue devaluation of the Naira, reduced public and private sector investments, increased inflation, decline in goods and services as well as reductions in manufacturing activities which all portend lower Gross Domestic Product growth and increased unemployment.
Olu The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in 2019 while presenting the initial N1.168 trillion 2020 budget said it will attract private sector investment. According to him, one of the objectives of the budget 2020 is to aggressively develop, upgrade and maintain the state’s infrastructure. He said that through the budget, the state would invest in human capital development such as education and healthcare. The governor said that the budget would help to facilitate sustainable social investment and enterprise and improve capacity to collect due revenues as efficiently as possible.
”The objective of our 2020 budget proposal is to improve civic participation in governance and automate public services and engagement. “The budget is expected to build impactful partnerships with the Federal Government, other states, development partners, and civil society,” he said.
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/05/covid-19-lagos-slashes-2020-budget-by-n248bn/
