Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba State on Friday presented an ₦311 billion Appropriation Bill for the 2024 fiscal year to the state House of Assembly.
A breakdown of the budget estimate shows that ₦111.6 billion, representing 39.5 per cent, was provided for recurrent expenditure, while ₦199.9, representing 64.1 per cent, was for capital expenditure.
Kefas listed the sectoral allocation, with education having the highest allocation of ₦43.2 billion, representing 13.9 per cent of the budget.
He said that Health followed with ₦33.5 billion, representing 10.6 per cent and works, which was allocated ₦24.8 billion, representing 8.0 per cent.
The governor further said that the budget was anchored on the five-finger agenda of his administration, which includes education, security, women/youth development, infrastructure and health.
He further said that the budget would place a specific focus on education, including teachers' training, improvement of schools and many other interventions.
He said that a five per cent statutory deduction was from the state revenue to the ‘Greening Taraba Project’, to preserve the natural beauty of the state and mitigate the effect of climate change.
Earlier, the Speaker of the House, Kizito Bonzena, acknowledged the good working relationship between the executive and the legislature.
Bonzena, therefore, promised speedy passage of the budget in order to keep up with the January-December time frame.
NAN recalls that the state initially had an ₦150 billion budget for 2023, with an ₦206 billion supplementary budget.