Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau has presented to the State Assembly the sum of N148.7bn as 2019 budget proposal for the fiscal year.
The Appropriation bill tagged: “A budget of rescue and infrastructural growth,” has the total sum of N80.147bn as recurrent expenditure, while the sun of N28.620bn was proposed for the capital expenditure.
According to Mr Lalong, the appropriation has an increased of N2.3bn above the previous 2018 appropriation.
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He said: “The Budget has a total size of One Hundred and Forty-Eight Billion, Seven Hundred and Twelve Million, Ninety-Eight Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixty-Five Naira (N148,712,098,565.00) only.
“This shows an increase of Two Billion, Three Hundred and Six Million, Twenty-Three Thousand, Six Hundred and Forty-Four Naira (N2,306,023,644.00) only from the 2018 budget, arising from increase in recurrent expenditures.”
Gov. Lalong urged the lawmakers to diligently peruse and deliberate on the budget, as he looked forward to their cooperation in the speedy passage of the budget.
According to him, the speedy passage would enable the executive commence implementation and service delivery from onset of the New Year.
In his response, the Speaker, Joshua Madaki, commended the governor, saying that the previous three appropriations have added to the quality of the common man in the State.
He said: “Previous appropriation in the past three (3), years, have added to the quality of life, restoring security and uniting the people, payment of backlogs and up to date salaries and pension of our workers which affects economic growth, completion of past and taking off new projects which will be further consolidated.”
Mr Madaki, therefore, appealed to his colleagues to see the importance of the appropriation bill to the people of the State and accord it a very speedy passage.
