By Correspondent in Minna.
Niger state government says it will borrow almost N100.4 billion, representing 50.65 percent of its 198.2 billion budgeted for the 2022 it presented to the Niger State House of Assembly last week.
The Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Abubakar Zakari, who disclosed this to journalists, lamented that the state was usually left with almost nothing in the coffers after payment of workers’ salary and pension, adding that “that is why the state has to improve on its Internal Generated Revenue (IGR).”
Zakari,however, told Journalists during a press conference for the sectoral allocation of the 2022 budget at the state secretariat, Minna on Monday that the civil servants would smile next year because over N1.33 billion representing, 1.77 per cent had been earmarked for their leave grants,especially for the outstanding MDAs.
Zakari, who is overseeing the Ministry of Budget and Planing, said Governor Abubarkar Sani Bello-led administration was poised to accord priority to the welfare of civil service, being the cataylists driving the administration’s developmental policies.
“The present administration discovered that some civil servants in some Ministries, Departments and Agencies were not captured in the 2021 leave grants, hence,the need to ensure that such category of civil servants are adequately captured in the 2022 fiscal year,” he assured.
The commissioner also said that N1, 331, 367,685, 91. representing 1.77 per cent of the total budget would be spent on payment of leave grant to civil servants, view of the importance the administration attaches to the welfare of its workers.
Under the economic sector, Abubarkar Zakari explained that the state was also expected to use 6.46 billion for debt servicing in the the budget, adding that the current debt profile for both local and foreign creditors stands at N87 billion.
Apart from workers’ welfare, the commissioner said the state would spend huge part of the budget on agriculture sector in 2022 as part of strategies to gradually waggle her way out of the devastating economic meltdown, caused by COVID 19 pandemic and insecurity.
“Deliberate and sustained agricultural policy to encourage agricultural value chain would be pursued with well over N5 billion allocated to the sub sector comprising; improving Agricultural output N3.7 billion and livestock development with N1.7 billion, he pointed out,”Zakari added.
