By Magnus Effiong
Gov. Bassey Otu of Cross River State has presented a budget estimates of N498 billion, christened ‘Budget of Sustainable Growth,’ to the State House of Assembly for 2025.
Otu said the sum of N328 billion, representing about 68 per cent of the total budget size, was allocated to capital expenditures while N170 billion, representing about 34 per cent of the total budget, is for recurrent expenditures.
The sectoral allocation, he explained, are as follows: infrastructure – N100 billion; education – N81 billion; health – N25 billion; judiciary – N20 billion;House of Assembly – N 18 billion; aviation – N16 billion.
Others are: Special duties/intergovernmental affairs N15 billion; power N14 billion;agriculture, N11 billion; tourism 5 billion; science technology/innovation N4.7 billion; Women Affairs, N3.7 billion; information, N3 billion while others will be N181.6 billion.
The Governor noted that the State would fund the budget from the federal allocation, grants from international organisation and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), and that it was benchmarked on the Sustainable Development Goal, (SDG) goal nine, four, three, two and 16 to ensure the continuity of projects not completed in the current budget circle.
Reviewing the 2024 budget, the governor said the unfavorable economic climate in the country occasioned by the devaluation of the Naira for three consecutive times within one fiscal year, coupled with the floating of exchange rate, negatively impacted project implementation in the state.
“Consequently the initial budget provision for specific projects needed to be increased owing to the built-in inflation.
“To maneuver this stormy economic situation we had to scale down on a number of projects earmarked for implementation while prioritising very critical sectors that had direct impact on the citizenry,” he maintained.
Speaker of the House, Rt Hon Elvert Ayambem, who commended the Governor for his achievements, promised that the Assembly would speedily look into the budget but appealed for an improved power supply in the Assembly complex to enable them carry out their function effectively.