Delta State government has proposed the sum of N936,078,818,719 billion for the 2025 fiscal year.
Presenting the Appropriation Bill to the State House of Assembly in Asaba on Thursday, the state governor, Rt Honourable Sheriff Oborevwori, said the 2025 budget is N211 billion higher than that of 2024, which was N725 billion, reflecting an increase of 29%.
Christened ‘Budget of Fiscal Consolidation,’ the estimate consists of recurrent expenditure of N348,717,758,635 billion, representing 37.25% of the total budget, and capital expenditure of N587,361,060,084, representing 62.75%.
In the proposed budget, road infrastructure is gulping a larger sum of N230 billion while N67.42 billion is allocated to education just as N30.55 billion is for health; N11.03 billion for water resources; and N7 billion for agriculture.
The governor attributed the increase in the budget to the realignment of the exchange rate, which led to higher FAAC allocations and increased revenues in addition to a significant improvement in the state’s internally generated revenues during the year.
According to him, “the 2025 budget includes several initiatives aimed at mitigating the effects of the fuel subsidy removal and the associated economic challenges.
“These include deliberate provisions to strengthen our social protection interventions and safety nets, basic rural infrastructure, agriculture and food security, agro-value chains, and MSMEs.
“The 2025 Budget focuses on continued provision of physical infrastructure, human capital development, job creation, wealth creation, and poverty reduction in our dear state.
“The state government intends to achieve these through prudent management of our resources and prioritising expenditures on health, education, agriculture, water resources, environment, housing, as well as women and youth empowerment programs.
Provision of physical infrastructure, human capital development, job creation, wealth generation, and poverty reduction in the state, the governor said, would be given priority.
He appealed to the lawmakers to give the appropriation bill a speedy passage.
In his remarks, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Emomotimi Guwor, commended the unprecedented development in the state due to the governor’s pragmatic style of governance.
He also commended the governor for completing inherited projects from previous administrations, lauding him for his fiscal discipline and ensuring value for money.
This, he said, was epitomised in returning over N500m to the state coffers while serving as Speaker and for saving over N14bn for local government councils across the state.
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