Governor Amaechi presents 335bn for 2015 budget

The Rivers State government has presented the 2015 appropriation bill seeking authorization for the spending of three hundred and thirty-five billion naira for the 2015 fiscal year.

The State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi presented the budget tagged the appropriation bill, “The Budget of Completion”, before twenty three members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Governor Amaechi said this years budget was 31% lower than the 2014 budget of four485bn.

He said the basis of the 2015 budget was to concentrate on the completion of strategic projects in the state.

In the highlight of the sector allocation, the governor explained that the sum of 216bn  was set aside for capital expenditure while 118bn was for recurrent expenditure.

Greater Port Harcourt City has the highest allocation of 28bn, the Ministry of transport will spend 1.5bn, 2.5bn was set aside for the Ministry of Water resources, while the Ministry of Agric will spend 1.5bn.

Others are Ministry of Education, 10bn, Information and Communicatations, 1bn and the sum of 20bn allocated to the Ministry of Works.

The Rivers state government also placed its crude oil benchmark at $40 per barrel to allow for a short fall in the oil revenue in case of continuous fluctuation of oil prices.

Governor Amaechi, however, assured the people of Rivers State that he will fulfill all promises made to them, adding that the state will continue to make efforts to pay its debt before the expiration of the administration.

Responding, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly assured the governor that the lawmakers will give the executive the necessary support to ensure that the budget was passed.

The Speaker, Otelemaba Dan Amachree urged the Rivers state government to ensure that all projects in the state were completed so as to ease the burden of the in coming administration.