Gov. Ugwuanyi presents N109.19bn budget for 2019

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State on Monday presented a budget of N109.19 billion for 2019 to the state House of Assembly for approval. Governor Ugwuanyi said the budget was made after due consideration was given to the country’s economic realities. The 2019 budget is 4.5 per cent higher than that of 2018 which was N103.5 billion. The governor said the budget has a recurrent expenditure of N64.5 billion while the capital expenditure is N43.49 billion. Ugwuanyi, who further broke the budget down, said N5.52 billion was set aside for education sector while the agricultural sector would gulp N636.5 million. He said N2.37 million was earmarked to provide affordable healthcare while N742 million was for the provision of water with emphasis on the Enugu and Nsukka water schemes. The governor said his administration was desirous of continuing the compulsory free basic education in the state by upgrading basic infrastructure in the sector. He said the outgoing year had been eventful as his administration recorded landmark achievements within the limits of 2018 budget. He said the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state had continued to grow which placed the state 9th in the country in terms of revenue generation. Responding, the Speaker of the Assembly, Edward Ubosi, assured the governor that the legislators would give accelerated hearing to the budget. Ubosi commended the governor for his peaceful disposition, which he said, had led to the good relationship between the two arms of government.