From Pwanagba Agabus, Jos
Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State has signed the revised 2020 Appropriation Bill into law.
The 2020 Budget was revised from N177,340,521,174 billion to N122, 848,822,913 billion.
Lalong, while performing the ceremony at the new Government House Little Rayfield, Jos, said the revised budget became necessary because of the need to take care of the realities of COVID-19 which has greatly affected the economy of the State.
He said: “For us as a State, the impact has been huge as our earnings have drastically fallen even in the face of demands for funds to carry out statutory responsibilities and also respond to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
“That is why we engaged in various cost-cutting measures to enable us manage the lean resources efficiently and also try to fulfill our most basic responsibilities of providing services to our citizens”, he explained.
He reiterated the commitment of his administration to working through this challenging period by effectively applying available resources to the most critical areas that will benefit the citizenry and assist us bequeath a lasting legacy for the people of the State.
Lalong directed the Ministries of Finance, Budget and Planning as well as all MDAs to ensure its strict and effective implementation in line with extant financial regulations.
Speaking on funding the budget, the Governor said, a reputable revenue collection firm has been engaged to improve on revenue targets, especially the Internally Generated Revenue which is crucial to funding the 2020 budget.
He further explained that Government will continue to strengthen the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA); the Efficiency Unit; Bureau for Public Procurement; Liquidity Management Committee; as well as the Project Monitoring and Result Delivery Unit (PMRDU) to maximise resources and eliminate wastages.
Also speaking, Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Sylvester Wallangko explained that the revised budget consists of N42.8 Billion for capital expenditure and N79.9 billion for recurrent expenditure.
Wallangko further stated that the revised budget is in deficit of N21,709,429,246 billion which will be funded from loans from domestic and external sources.
