THE Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Ben
Akabueze, yesterday said the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)
averages a total of N20billion monthly.
He spoke at a ministerial briefing ahead of the Sixth Anniversary of the Governor Babatunde Fashola Administration in the state.
He said: “IGR trickles in everyday across different agencies of the
state. One month it could be up, the next month it could be down pending
on seasonal considerations and all of that. At the end, we will have an
aggregate for the year and you could average it out, but as at today,
it is about N20billion monthly.”
He said the state has a projected IGR of N316.578billion out of its
N499.605billion 2013 fiscal budget, saying it is more than the total
budget of each of the states in the country, excluding Delta, Rivers and
Akwa Ibom.
To reach the target, the state is adopting measures, including the
expansion of the tax net to cover more taxable persons living and doing
business in Lagos, he said.
Akabueze also said the state government is not introducing any new
tax, but would leverage on existing ones approved by the law of the
federation, to realise the objectives of this year’s budget.
According to him, major areas the budget has been addressing since
the commencement of its implementation, include security, food
sufficiency, law and order; building of critical transportation
infrastructure, including the blue/red light rail, continuation of the
expansion of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, ferry services, health and
environment.
On the state’s debt profile, Akabueze said the income accruing to
state’s coffers yearly outstrips its debts, and that some of its loans
are long-term, which would be due for full repayment in 35 years.
He also revealed plans by the state government to establish some
critical agencies/commissions as part of measures to further strengthen
its economy.
These, according to Akabueze, include parks and garden agency, state
water regulatory commission, state law enforcement training institute,
audit service commission, law reform commission, office of disability
affairs and the office of facility management, among others.
source: The Nation
No comments:
Post a Comment