2021 Budget Funding: Ogun State to automate revenue generation
With the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on revenue inflow, Ogun State Government, South-west Nigeria, has said that it would automate its revenue generation process as well as leverage citizen enumeration for tax purposes to finance its N399 billion budget.
The State’s executive council said it hopes to complete existing projects that have revenue and employment generation capacity.
With plans underway to deepen its diversification agenda, the State added that it was targeting an average yearly growth rate of 25 percent.
Providing insights to the State’s 2021 expenditure plan, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Olaoluwa Olabimtan, explained that the government was exploring options to ensure that its plans are executed in line with the 2021-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks (MTEFs).
He noted that while capital projects are expected to cost N172 billion, N167 billion has been earmarked for recurrent expenditure, adding that the State hopes to keep the debt servicing ratio at 16 percent while IGR is to account for 37 percent of the budget.
“Our goal is to run a sustainable economy. The MTEF will run from 2021-2025; the establishment of the public-private partnership (PPP) office will help to restore investor confidence in the state. We are also coming up with investment vehicles to aid inflows.
“We hope to complete existing projects, especially those with revenue potential, employment generation and those consistent with government’s planning strategies”, he said.
The budget comprises a recurrent expenditure of N146.529 billion, N20.182 billion Consolidated Revenue Fund Charges (CRFC) and a capital expenditure of N171.898 billion.
Highlights of the budget showed that the government hopes to spend N61 billion on infrastructure, N93 billion on social welfare, N58 billion on education and N6 billion on youth empowerment.
Chairman of the State Internal Revenue Service, OGIRS, Olugbenga Olaleye, stated that the agency is saddled with the provision of the large chunk of the revenue needed by the State, even though the pandemic has affected its performance in 2020.
“PAYE and tax audits would be areas where automation would be done to ensure that collection is efficient and transparent as well as cost-efficient.
“We hope to do this in a customer-centric manner,” he said.
On his part, the Commissioner of Finance and Chief Economic Adviser, Dapo Okubadejo, said the State’s vision is to ensure focused and qualitative governance as well as create an enabling environment for PPP, which is fundamental to sustainable economic development and individual prosperity:
“Our economic goals border on real sector growth, job creation, poverty eradication and increased investments. These goals can be achieved through good governance, security and digital transformation, enabling business environment, finance, investment and economic planning.”
