Ugwuanyi budgets N85.1bn for 2016

The Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, on Wednesday presented a proposed budget of about N85.1bn for the state in 2016.

The sum represened N11.5bn or 12 per cent shortfall in the amount budgeted for 2015.

The state’s 2015 budget was N96.7bn.

“The decrease was necessitated by the realities of the times with respect to revenue inflow from the Federal Allocation,” the governor, who repeatedly emphasised the “lean” condition of the state’s purse, said in his budget speech on the floor of the state House of Assembly on Wednesday.

Ugwuanyi bemoaned the impact of the economic downturn, occasioned by the drastic decline in crude oil price, on the state’s resources.

The state’s share of allocations from the Federation Account had shrunk by about 50 per cent since 2014, according to the governor.

He said the development was a major challenge in the government’s quest to provide infrastructure and quality services.

“I wish to state that our dreams and aspirations towards improving the living standards of the people of Enugu State by providing them quality services and infrastructure were challenged by dwindling economic resources accruing to the state, especially from the federally accruable revenues.

“This is to be expected, given the global fall of oil prices in the world oil market, from which the nation derives the bulk of her financial resources.

“It is not surprising, therefore, that the state’s receipts from the Federation Account Allocation Committee in the 2015 fiscal year fell by about 50 per cent than what it was in the previous year,” he said.

Ugwuanyi expressed concern that with the continuous decline in the price of crude oil, “the situation is expected to degenerate even further in the subsequent years.”

But he said the government intended to address the challenge through what he described as an “aggressive” exploitation of “all potential sources” of internally generated revenue in the state.