Otti presents 2024 budget estimate of N567.2bn in Abia

The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, on Tuesday, presented the 2024 budget estimate of N567.2 billion to the state House of Assembly for approval.

In his address at the forum, the governor said the appropriation bill, christened: “Budget of New Beginning,” was over N400 billion higher than the 2023 budget estimate of N160.5 billion.

He said 84 percent of the budget was earmarked for capital expenditure and 16 percent for recurrent spending.

Otti said: “This is against the 53 percent allocated for capital expenditure and 47 percent for recurrent expenditure in the 2023 fiscal year.”

He put the government’s estimated total revenue at over N166 billion.

The governor added that the revenue would come through earnings from the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) channels, Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), grants from multilateral organisations, and incomes from other revenue sources.

“We plan to finance the deficit of over N401 billion partly by new borrowings, estimated at N385.3 billion.

“At least 50 percent of the loans will be sourced externally, while the balance will be procured domestically.

“It must at this point be stated that all borrowings would be committed strictly to capital projects with a direct impact on the economy of the state, especially roads, schools and medical facilities.

“We shall be committing major resources to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of some of the most important roads along the major economic corridors of the state,” he added.

Otti also revealed that the government would commit 20 percent and 15 percent of the budget spending to education and health respectively.

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