By CHIMEZIE ANASO

Anambra plans to spend 76.5 per cent of its N4.1 billion 2024 budget on capital projects.

Commissioner for Economic Planning, Mrs Chiamaka Nnake, made the declaration in Awka on Saturday while giving the budget breakdown.

She explained that N313.9 billion of the budget would go to capital projects as proposed to the House of Assembly by Gov. Chukwuma Soludo on Nov. 21.

Nnake noted that the 2024 proposal for capital projects showed a remarkable 80 per cent increase over what obtained in 2003 when N163.5 billion of the N259 billion budget went to capital projects.

She noted that capital projects accounted for 63.1 per cent of the 2023 budget.

The commissioner told newsmen that recurrent expenditure would gulp N96.2 billion in 2024, a slight increase of 8 per cent over the 2023 estimate of N95.5 billion.

The 2024 budget, she said, had a deficit component of N120.8 billion.

“Recurrent expenditure accounts for 23.5 per cent of the 2024 budget.

“From the recurrent expenditure of N96.2 billion, salaries and allowances will take 30.3 per cent; social benefits, 16.7 per cent; overhead 38.2 per cent and others 15 per cent,’’ she explained.

Giving a breakdown of sectorial allocations as a percentage of capital expenditure, Nnake said Administrative Sector would take 5.5 per cent, while, Economic Sector would take 76.5 per cent.

Law and Justice Sector would take 2.2 per cent, while Social Sector takes 15.9 per cent, she added.

She said the Ministry of Education would get N20 billion while that of Health would get N16.7 billion.

Ministry of Culture, Entertainment and Tourism gets N10 billion; Ministry of Information gets N1.5 billion; Ministry of Youth Development gets N4.1 billion, while Ministry of Transport gets N5.4 billion.

The Ministry of Sports would get N1.7 billion; Ministry of Women Affairs would get N1.5 billion; that of Agriculture would get N2 billion, while the Information, Communication Technology Agency gets N2.8 billion.

Ministry of Housing would get N10.5 billion for the completion of Government House and commissioners quarters and the construction of an Old Peoples Home.

Ministry of Works and Infrastructure would get N141 billion for the completion of on-going and new road projects.

Nnake also said N2.5 billion would be spent on urban regeneration, while N44 billion would be spent on an airport, industrial cities, new cities, branded hotels and others.

Ministry of Power and Water Resources get N8.2 billion to revamp urban water schemes while the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning would get N2 billion.

Anambra’s 2024 budget is christened: “Budget of Acceleration”. (NAN)

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