Enugu State Government says substantial part of its 2020 budget will be dedicated for the development of 17 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the state.
The Commissioner for Finance, Mrs Adaona Kene-Uyanwune, said in Enugu during a breakdown of the 2020 budget.
Kene-Iyawune said that the initiative would help to drive the state economy through commerce and industry.
She said that the SMEs would be located in each of the 17 local government areas of the state with each enterprise focusing on areas with comparative advantage over others.
She said that the 2020 budget, with N100 billion proposed for capital expenditure, would expand the scope of economic development and government’s strategic plan.
Kene-Uyanwune said that the high percentage allocation to capital expenditure was an indication that the budget was about the people rather than consumption.
She said that the stage was set for the industrialisation of the state and called on the people to leverage government’s efforts to live a better life.
“The 2020 budget seeks to address the security challenges in the state, massively invest in and develop our basic infrastructure, education, health and other critical areas,” she said.
The commissioner further said that the 2020 budget estimate of N169.56 billion would be funded from an estimated independent revenue of N119.89 billion.
She said that 54.4 per cent of the total recurrent revenue would be from the Federation Account and 23.7 per cent from independent sources, while internally generated revenue would represent 21.9 per cent.
“Further breakdown of the budget shows that of the N68.6 billion allocated to recurrent expenditure, N34.97 billion is for personnel costs, while N6.64 billion is for subventions,” she said.
On the implementation of the new national minimum wage, Kene-Uyanwune said that the state government was fully prepared to pay.
The commissioner said that the payment of the new wage would start as soon as the committee negotiating the template for payment concluded its work.
