Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom, Tuesday, presented N597 billion for the 2020 budget to the state House of Assembly for consideration and passage into law.
The budget lower than the 2019 figure of N672 billion shows a difference of N75 billion.
Christened Budget of Industrialisation for Poverty Alleviation Phase II, the budget is made up of N111 billion recurrent expenditure, N369 billion capital expenditure and N116 billion consolidated revenue.
Mr Emmanuel said the budget guided by the International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) in preparation was targeted at building more industries as well as attracting direct foreign investment to the state.
The governor said the policy objective of the budget was to broaden and diversify the state’s resource base through improvements in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Highlights of the budget showed that roads and transport got N115 billion; Education N11 billion; Agriculture N12 billion; Land, Housing and Urban Development N53 billion; Investment, Culture and Industry N6 billion; and Health N4 billion.
Responding, Mr. Aniekan Bassey, Speaker of the house, assured the governor that the lawmakers would quicken the consideration process to ensure speedy passage of the budget. (NAN)
