Governor Douye Diri has proposed a new appropriation bill of N183.16bn for the 2020 fiscal year after a review of the original budget of N242.19bn, which was signed into law on April 23, 2020.
The 2020 BUDGET has been reduced by over N59bn, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the state’s economy.
The Governor presented the revised 2020 budget proposal on Monday at a forum on the state’s appropriation law review tagged, “2020 COVID-19 Responsive Citizens’ Participatory Budget” in Yenagoa.
Governor Diri had on April 21 presented the 2020 Appropriation Bill of N242.19bn to the state lawmakers, and signed it into law two days after they passed it with dispatch without defence by the respective ministries, departments and agencies.
However, the government in the revised 2020 budget, increased expected Federal Government reimbursement receipt from N44.177bn to N53.778bn and retained N51.643bn as personnel cost under the expenditure profile.
The governor said the new N183.16bn 2020 budget would be funded as follows: statutory allocation, N25.736bn; 13 per cent derivation, N64. 757bn; Value Added Tax, N9.796bn; internally generated revenue, N10bn; Federal Government Reimbursement, N53.778bn and loans N5.473bn.
“Other receipts are also revised from N242.187m to N183.16m,” he said.
According to Diri, the new expenditure profile consists of personnel cost, N51.643bn; overhead cost, N30.71bn; consolidated revenue fund charges, pension and gratuity, N66.653bn, while capital expenditure is N34.784bn.
In the original 2020 budget, the expected statutory receipts were N41.159bn; 13 per cent derivation, N90.543bn; VAT, N10.624bn; IGR, N16bn; Federal Government Reimbursement N44.177bn and loans N39.682bn.
Also, the initial expenditures were personnel cost, N51.643bn; overhead cost, N64.442bn; consolidated revenue fund charges, pension and gratuity, N78.125bn and capital expenditure, N47.973bn.
Adducing reasons for the budget review, Diri stated, “The devastating impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic has introduced adverse dynamics which have constrained the economic projections and made it difficult for the government to achieve its budgetary outlook.
“This inevitably means that the anticipated outcomes have to be re-evaluated. The 2020 budget was passed with certain assumptions that have been negatively altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The effect of the global lockdown has resulted in low demand for crude oil, which is Nigeria’s major earner. The price of oil dropped to as low as $20 per barrel in some months against the already budgeted $55 per barrel as a benchmark. There is, therefore, the need to revise the budget to face the existing realities.
“The proposed budget size is now N183.16bn as against the initial budget that I presented on April 21 which was N242.19bn.”
