El-Rufai Signs N376.456bn 2023 Budget Into Law

Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai has signed the 2023 N376.456 billion Bill into law.

The bill was passed by the state House of Assembly on Wednesday.

The commissioner for planning and budget, Hajiya Umma Aboki, who made this known at a news conference yesterday in Kaduna, said the budget prioritises health and education sectors as 43.70 per cent was earmarked for them.

Giving a breakdown of the budget, the commissioner said that  “15.70 per cent of the total budget has been  allocated to health and 28 per cent of the total budget is allocated to education, bringing the total allocation for health and education to 43.70 per cent.’’

‘’This is consistent with the state government’s commitment to allocate a minimum of 15 per cent and 25 per cent of its total annual budget to health and education respectively,’’ she said.

The commissioner pointed out that an allocation of about three per cent of the total budget to social welfare and pro-poor interventions has been spread across various implementing ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), in line with government’s policy of leaving no one behind.

Hajiya Aboki stated that the capital expenditure of the budget was N240.972 billion which is 64.01 per cent of the entire budget, while the recurrent expenditure is N135.484 billion, that is 35.99 per cent of the budget.

According to her, ‘’The 2023 budget which is referred to as the ‘Budget of Continuous Growth and Development’ epitomises continuity of development while strategizing on minimizing economic shocks occasioned by the unintended effects of policy reforms.’’

The commissioner further said that the “budget is focused on cushioning the negative effects by prioritizing human capital and social development and the completion of ongoing projects with a view to consolidating the achievements of the past seven years that will enable the smooth transition of government.’’

She disclosed that the state expects N89.277 billion as internally generated revenue (IGR) and N59.922 billion as statutory allocation, including exchange gains, excess bank charges, equalisation funds, and ecological funds amounting to N3.442 billion.

The commissioner added that the state government expects N30.756 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT);  N62.769 billion, N61.662 billion, N20.999 billion as internal grants, external loans and external grants respectively.