5th August, 2020
Lagos State Government has begun massive consultations with stakeholders to get their inputs in the preparation of the 2021 budget.
The consultation has seen the government engaged stakeholders in the five divisions of the state to get their input for a better 2021 budget.
Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Samuel Egube while speaking at the 2021 Budget Forum on Wednesday in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, said for 2020, the state the government had significantly minimised the effect of the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic through interventions along the line of aggressive healthcare responses, business support, sustainability measures and relief to the poor, and was looking to redirecting to effort to boost employment and food production in the coming years.
He said government had increased commitment to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to help them during and post Covid-19 and that government intended to adopt consolidation and tactical redirection to areas that would help employment, food production and security, particularly to overcome the effects of Covid-19.
According to him, government was going to flag off its internship programme by the Ministry of Wealth Creation and that the idea was to get people to work, with the government paying them, while working for SMEs to gather experience and tackle unemployment.
Egube added that for the half-year of 2020, the state recorded a budget performance of 57 percent – N334.838 billion which in absolute terms was higher than the 73 percent- N316.676 billion for the same period of 2019.
“The Covid-19 pandemic with its resultant health and economic impacts greatly affected the state, like other geographies around the world and changed the context within which we execute development agenda.
“Within this very difficult context, LASG was able to achieve greater revenues, while managing expenditure with revenue stronger by six percent against the approved budget,” he said.
The commissioner stated that in view of the dwindling revenue of the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) due to the pandemic, the government was committed to growing the state’s IGR to sustain its developmental projects.
He said government would continue to minimise wastage through tighter expenditure controls and promote prudent spending, saying that plans to invest in comparative advantage areas such as aquaculture for quick wins were underway.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Economic Planning and Budget, Adebayo Sodade said the forum was an avenue to update the stakeholders on the half-year performance of the budget.
He stated that the forum also brought to general knowledge the resources available for the next budget, taking into cognisance all economic variables and externalities such as crude oil prices, inflation, interest rates and the effect of Covid-19 on the economy.
“Rubbing minds with you also provides us an ample opportunity to share ideas geared toward the greater Lagos project, while ensuring that your desired interests are adequately captured in the development agenda,” he said.
Sodade called for the protection of public facilities and infrastructure, obedience to traffic and safety rules and regulations, ensuring environmental friendliness and security consciousness for a greater Lagos.
According to him, the forum would take place in the five divisions of the State to further ensure that citizens participated fully and that their choices drive government decision making in planning and budgeting for critical infrastructural, economic and social development.