2020 Budget: ‘Kaduna on course to meet target’

The Commissioner of Planning and Budget Commission, Elder THOMAS GYANG promised that in spite of the review of the 2020 budget, Kaduna State Government will still achieve most of its targets this fiscal year, in the interview below

Kaduna State House of Assembly has passed the revised 2020 budget, reviewing it from N259.25 billion to N223.6 billion, representing a slash of about N36 billion. Which sectors will the reduction affect?

Honestly, it affected all sectors but of course some were more affected than others. Like education, public works and health were less affected but virtually all sectors were affected across board. Of course, we have always tried to keep 60:40 ratio in all our budgets since this administration came on board; 60% for capital projects and then 40% for recurrent expenditure. But in the revised budget of the 2020, we actually achieved 65% to 35%; 65%representing capital expenditure and 35% for recurrent expenditure.

 Can you give specific figures in relation to the percentage of the revised budget, especially the billions that have been earmarked for capital and recurrent expenditures?

Why not? I can easily give you that. The capital expenditure is N145.5bn while the recurrent is N76.66bn.

 What is government projecting for the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)? In the pre-Covid-19 budget, the administration projected N50bn. Has this been scaled down in the revised budget?

Of course, we were forced to. It is natural that we had to scale down. We are now looking at about N29.4 billion for the IGR if it will be possible.

Will you agree that even this figure seem unrealistic, giving the fact that businesses are slow and so revenue in terms of taxes will not come in as projected? What measures are you putting in place to raise even the revised projection of N29.4bn IGR?

Let me start by saying that we will be earning a lot from Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS); in fact, we are earning some money from there, and we are also trying to scrutinize our Pay As You Earn (PAYEE) taxes. In the past years, we’ve not been getting the right figures and numbers but the Chairman of KADIRS is working hard on that, so we could earn more resources from there. That is why we are even comfortable with the N29.4b and hoping that we are going to achieve that.

The revised budget was predicated on a projection of $20 per barrel but giving that Covid-19 is still around and businesses the world over have not really picked up and sale of crude oil may still be affected. Do you think the $20 dollars per barrel is a realistic projection?

Yes, we are very hopeful that oil prices will continue to rise, especially with the meeting of the OPEC+, that they have now decided to cut down on their production output and the price of crude oil is already going up to $45 dollars per barrel now. So, honestly, we are very hopeful that we are going to achieve the revised budget, because of these changes of the economic scenario worldwide.

One curious phenomenon of the revised budget is that, while the economic and social sectors were slashed, the regional sector went higher than what was in the initial budget. Can you explain this ‘’abnormally’’ for a layman’s understanding?

What happened was that, when we were preparing the 2020 budget, there was this understanding that for our waste management in the state, that the state was going to pay nothing for it. The local government councils were to take charge of the waste management but along the way, this schedule was changed and the state agreed to take part in the waste management, where the state will pay part and the local government councils will pay part. It was shared 60% and 40% between the state and the local government councils, which necessitate us to capture that aspect in the budget. That explains the increase of about N1.4bn. Initially it was about N4.8bn but it has been increased to N5.4 billion.

 The Urban Renewal Project is something that most residents of Kaduna are happy about; but the fear is that this revised budget may affect some of the projects. Is government planning to scale down the scope of the project?

I will say yes; of course, we’ve already started scaling down but one sure thing I want to let you know is that, the governor will not abandon any road project that he has already started. He is very passionate about it and he is saving money to ensure it is done. This I can confirm, that all these roads that have already started and the ones that will be started, will be completed by 2023 God willing.

 The first stage of the Urban Renewal Project has not been completed but reports suggest that government has commenced the second phase. Why flagging off the second phase when the first phase is yet to be completed?

You don’t have to wait until the first phase is done before you go into the second phase. Our income is well projected, we know where we are going to; of course, we are prepared to start the second phase. That’s the way to go. If we don’t start now, and you expect that the first phase should be completely done before we start the second phase, we will be behind. We are preparing to start the second phase. You can see that we are going into it little by little, not that we are going into it with full force as the first phase. You can see that we have added one more project. We hope to add like one, two, three, and even four more projects. Part of it will be done in Zaria and Kafanchan and here in Kaduna also. So, definitely I can assure you that we are arranging for the finances. You know our governor cannot just start something blindly like that. He is prepared, he has counted the cost and he is determined to ensure that all these jobs are done.

 To quote you, “Kaduna State Government is preparing for the financing”, will it mean seeking for loan to complete the projects, if the need arises?

Yes, we are seeking for loan but not loan as such but grants, and I’m sure you are aware of the Performance for Results (P for R) loan that we have. The governor is deploying virtually all that money on these Urban Renewal Projects and some other capital projects. So, he is managing these funds wisely, that I can assure you, it is no longer business as usual. He is making sure that these jobs are completed before he leaves office in 2023

We are in the eighth month of the year, can the government still maintain the track record of presenting the 2021 budget on time and aligning the fiscal year with the calendar year?

We are the same people who prepared all previous budgets. We have gone far on the preparation of the 2021 budget. We are following the calendar religiously and by the grace of God we will definitely achieve it. We have no option, we have to achieve it. You cannot be working for Malam Nasir El-Rufai and say that you have encountered problems along the way and you cannot achieve a task. It is not possible.