El-Rufai

Kaduna state Governor, Nasir El Rufai has on Thursday signed the 2023 appropriation bill of over N376.4 billion into law.

The Commissioner of Budget and Planning, Hajiya Umma Aboki who made this known at press briefing said that the 2023 budget  prioritized the health and education sectors with 43.70 per cent.

While giving a breakdown of the budget, the commissioner said that 15.70 per cent of the total budget was allocated to Health and 28 per cent to Education.

’This is consistent with the State Government’s  commitment to allocate a minimum of 15 per cent and 25 per cent of its total annual budget respectively to Health and Education,’’ she added.

The commissioner  pointed out that an allocation of about three per cent of the budget to social welfare and pro-poor interventions  has been spread across various implementing Ministries, Departments and Agencies, in line with government’s policy of leaving no one behind.

Hajiya Umma further said that the Capital Expenditure of the budget stood at   N240.9 billion representing  64.01 per cent while  Recurrent Expenditure is about  N135.5 billion which is 35.99 per cent of the budget.

According to her ‘’the 2023 Budget which is referred to as  the “Budget of Continuous Growth and Development”,  epitomizes continuity of development while strategizing on minimizing economic shocks occasioned by the unintended effects of policy reforms.’’

The commissioner also said that the ‘’budget is focused on cushioning the negative effects by prioritizing human capital and social development, and the completion of ongoing projects with a view to consolidating the achievements of the past seven  years that will enable the smooth transition of government.’’

Giving a further breakdown, she said that the state  expects N89, 277, 209, 534.01 as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and N59,922,244,646.12 as statutory allocation.

The statutory allocation include Exchange Gains, Excess Bank Charges, Equalization Funds and Ecological Funds amounting to N3,442,854,825.50.

The commissioner also said that the state government is expecting N30,756,738,525.96 from Value Added Tax (VAT);  N62,769,276,112.95, N61,662,182,999.07,  N20,999,967,529.00 as Internal Grants, External Loans and External Grants respectively.