By Akanji Alowolodu, Bauchi
Bauchi State House of Assembly has adopted the Bauchi State Government Economic and Fiscal Update (EFU); Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) and Budget Policy Statement (BPS) to cover period of 2022-2024.
The adoption followed the submission of the Report of the House Committee on Budget and Appropriation which was laid by the Chairman of the Committee Hon. Abdulkadir Umar Dewu representing Kirfi Constituency.
According to the findings of the Committee, the Bauchi State Fiscal Strategy Paper for 2022 is based on the estimated national variables of oil benchmark of $57 per barrel, daily oil production of 1 88mb and exchange rate N410.15 to 1 US dollar.
Other assumptions are inflation rate of 13.0% and Gross Domestic Product of growth rate of 4.29%, the Bauchi State Statutory Allocation is projected to increase by 20%, VAT by 17% while internally generated revenue is estimated to increase by 15%, capital receipts is projected to decrease by 28% owing to the reduction in securing loan facilities to finance capital projects and the recurrent expenditure of the State is projected to increase slightly by 2.5% and capital expenditure will increase substantially largely due to government effort to complete ongoing projects and initiation of new ones.
The Committee therefore recommended that the State Government should focus attention on eliminating waste and ensuring prudent and efficient use of scarce resources and unnecessary extra budgetary spendings by MDAs should be sanctioned.
The Appropriation Committee also recommended that budget submissions for capital projects must include full time capital investment requirements and sources of funding if grants or loans are being used to partially or fully fund project.
The Committee therefore recommended that the House should consider and adopt the EFU l, FSP and BPS to cover the period of 2022-2024 to provide legal backing for the implementation of these outlined laudable government policies, programmes, projects and priorities for the betterment and improvement of living standards and conditions of its citizens.
