The Cross River State House of Assembly has passed the 2018 Appropriation Bill of N1.3 trillion presented by Governor Ben Ayade.
The budget, tagged Budget of Kinetic Crystallisation, was presented to the House of Assembly by the governor on November 30, 2017.
Presenting the report of the Budget before the House, Mr Jonas Eteng-Williams, Chairman of Finance and Appropriation Committee, said that the Assembly interfaced with various Ministries, Departments and Agencies before considering the passage of the budget.
Eteng said that the MDA’s in the state appeared before the relevant House committees to defend their budget, adding the Assembly was thorough during the budget defence.
According to Eteng-Williams, the budget was designed by the state governor to promote infrastructural and economic development in the state.
A breakdown of the budget shows that the sum of N4.4billion was budgeted for Carnival Commission with a view to enable the commission organise a successful carnival in 2018.
The sum of N108.5bn had been estimated for recurrent revenue, while recurrent expenditure is N136.6billion and personnel cost pegged at N34billion respective and for Agriculture, the sum of N10.9billion has also been budgeted for the sector.
The Speaker of the House of Assembly, John Gaul-Lebo, said the budget when fully implemented would accelerate speedy urban and rural development in the state.
“The governor has transformed Cross River from a civil service state to an economic hub. We must all join our hands and give him the necessary support to do more,” the Speaker said.
He lauded Ayade for the prompt payment of workers’ salaries and for the numerous political appointments given to the youths in the state.
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