Joe Effiong, Uyo
Akwa Ibom State government is to benefit from the increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT) by raking in an estimated N20 billion this year.
This is higher by N2 billion than that of 2019 which was estimated at N18 billion; less than 60 percent of that was actually realised when VAT was pegged at only 5% as against the current 7.5%.
The state Commissioner for Finance, Mr Linus Nkan, who disclosed this while analysing the state’s 2020 budget, also said that the internally-generated revenue of the state would equally grow from N44 billion budgeted last year to N55.56 billion for the year 2020, just as derivation revenue is expected to contribute N255 billion as against N250 billion budgeted for last year.
Despite the seeming increase in those revenue sub-sectors, including the statutory revenue which moved from N50 billion for last year to N52 billion for 2020, the budget size for 2020, tagged: “Budget for Industrialisation Poverty Alleviation Phase II” has however been decreased from N672.9 billion for 2019 to N597.7 billion.
Just as the revenue profile is expected to increase, expenditure sector would also increase, jacking up the personnel cost from N55 billion in 2019 to N61 billion; overhead cost moves from N42 billion to N50 billion while consolidated fund charges increases from N225 billion to N228 billion.
The head of budget office, Mr Otu Asuquo, said the 2020 approved budget “is a complete International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) Accrual Compliant Budget which takes into consideration, the transaction classification into revenue, expenditure, assets and liabilities.”
According to Asuquo, the budget is packaged to highlight on the vision, policies, programmes and projects of the present administration in delivering to the people, the dividends of democracy through the 8-Point completion agenda of industrialisation, aviation development, rural and riverine areas development, agriculture, human capacity development, security, infrastructure and promotion of small and medium scale enterprises, to bring about co-ordinated and sustainable development with multiplier effects on the economic growth, employment generation and wealth creation to ensure economic stability.
“The 2020budget is predicated on sound policy thrust and implementation strategies that will ensure the realisation of the intended goals and objective effectively,” Asuquo said.
He enthused that for Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly to have passed the 2020 appropriation bill on December 5, 2019, for the governor to assent to it on December 18, 2019, the state has become one of the few in the federation whose approved budget would be ready for implementation on January 1, 2020.