The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said Thursday that the state would borrow N350 billion to fund its 2023 budget.
Sanwo-Olu submitted a budget of N1.69 trillion to the State House of Assembly for approval for the fiscal year 2023.
The deficit-ridden budget will be financed via borrowing, with a cap of N350 billion.
According to the Debt Management Office, Lagos’ domestic debt as of June 2022 is N797,305,312,602.53 and its international debt is 1.27 billion US Dollars (N555.828bn).
This estimated that the state’s overall debt profile was at N1.35 trillion.
The governor stated that the 2023 budget, which was dubbed the “Budget of Continuity,” had total revenue of N1,342,670,649,640 and deficit financing of N350,000,000,000.
The budget includes total federal transfers of N234,235,000,000 and internal generated revenue of N1,108,435,649,640.
The budget’s recurrent expenses total N759,958,569,792, according to Sanwo-Olu, and they are made up of N403,653,328,479 for total overhead costs, N247,295,312,088 for total personnel costs, and N109,009,929,224 for recurring debt service.
The total overhead cost of N403,653,328,479 is divided into three categories: dedicated, N88,194,786,596, and N221,957,283,661.
The capital expenditure for 2023 is N932,712,190,102, which is made up of N670,134,079,150 for capital expenditure and N262,578,110,952.7 for repayment.
Sanwo-Olu said, “The budget size is made up of recurrent expenditure of N759,958,569,792 (45%) and capital
expenditure of N932,712,190,102 (55%). The deficit financing shall consist of external and internal loans and bonds which are well within our fiscal sustainability parameters.”
Economic Affairs, which makes up 20.06 per cent of the whole budget, had the biggest budget, totalling N339,482,825,430. General Public Service, which makes up 18.22 per cent of the total budget, came in second with N308,363,331,313. With N153,445,318,140 (9.07%), Education came in third, followed by N67,358,643,068 for Health.
