Anambra state governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo has presented the sum of N410 billion to the state legislators for approval as the state government budget for the coming 2024 fiscal year.
The humongous total of N410,132,225,272 amounts to about 57.8 percent increase on the current 2023 state’s budget of N258.9 billion.
According to Soludo, the proposed 2024 budget is made of recurrent expenditure of N96.2 billion (23.46%) while capital expenditure is N313.9 billion (76.54%).
Also, the amount which was presented to the lawmakers at the state House of Assembly has a deficit of N120.8 billion.
Soludo emphasised “While consolidating and expanding the ongoing programmes and projects, the emphasis on the sectors as indicated above signal new vistas.
“Three new cities are part of the new Masterplan for Anambra: Awka 2.0; Onitsha 2.0; and a new Industrial City (with Export Emporium and potential for a possible future airport).
“An industrial master plan is being finalized while the railway master plan/feasibility study is also being completed.
The governor stated that the US$200 million project development, advisory and financing agreement signed recently by his administration with Afreximbank is part of the new development agenda of the government.
“We will continue to address the Ease of Doing Business. With the completion of the Fun City, the myriad of infrastructural developments as well as the coming of a branded international hotel in Awka, both Awka 1.0 and Awka 2.0 will merge to give Anambra a befitting capital city. Urban regeneration will be aggressively pursued.
He stated that the environment remains an existential threat, and under the 2024 budget, said, however, that his administration will intentionally accelerate its agenda on clean, green, planned and sustainable Anambra.
He stated that infrastructural development of his government will deliberately target the provision of transportation system that will serve the next generations by targeting the dualization of key highways and modernizing the mass transport systems.
Also, he stated that a new electricity market will be created, and the security operations will be upgraded with high technology applications even with barely 4% of the budget for security.
Soludo emphasised also that the 2024 budget is planned to signal a significant investment in urban and semi-urban water schemes, and urged the people of the state to expect running water in 2024.
He promised that in 2024 students and teachers will smile as never before while youths and Anambra students in tertiary institutions will smile even more.
The poor and the vulnerable persons will be taken care of while more than 100,000 additional households will receive 10 or more seedlings of coconut, palm, ukwa, pawpaw, soursop, etc. per household.
He told the legislators that the government is mainstreaming the sports economy to ensure that the state football team will debut in 2024.
Soludo lamented that the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) remains a fundamental challenge to his administration.
He said that in the current 2023 budget, the expected monthly revenue was N4 billion but that so far only N2 billion average is being accruing to the government coffers.
He stated that the government is still projecting N4.2 billion per month in 2024, and urged the people of the state to cooperate with the government to meet the target.
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