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Nairametrics| The Anambra House of Assembly has passed the 2017 Appropriation Bill of N115.5 billion, which Governor Willie Obiano is expected to sign into law. The House, while passing the bill on Tuesday, said that it was sure that implementation of the budget will lead to quality service delivery and more democratic dividends for the people of the state,
The total of N115.5 billion represents a 10.5% increase over the N101.4 billion passed as budget for the state last year. When these figures are considered by their dollar equivalent which was N200/$1 as at December 31, 2015 but is now N305/$1, the 2017 budget is actually a 27.8% reduction over the 2016 budget. This continues the recent trend of reduction of budgetary allocation in the state, following the 38% decrease of the 2016 budget over the 2015 budget.
Another key point of the budget shows that N58.9 billion was appropriated for capital expenditure while N56.5 billion was earmarked for recurrent expenditure. This represents a Capital to Recurrent Expenditure ratio of 51:49, very similar to the Capital to Recurrent Expenditure ratio of 52:48 used last year.
With these details, the 2017 budget seems to be a continuation of Governor Obiano’s desire to ‘do more with less’ as he stated during the 2016 budget presentation. This also goes the norm in Nigeria with budgets of the Federal Government and those of most states having higher allocation to recurrent expenses than capital expenditure.
In a period in the nation’s economy when so much has been said about developing infrastructure and capital investments, it seems the Anambra State government is laying a marker to its peers- put your money where your mouth is.
