By Olasunkanmi Akoni
LAGOS —AS part of efforts to improve on the ongoing infrastructural renewal and effectively implement the N18,000 minimum wage, the Lagos State government is planning to re-order sectoral allocation in 2012 budget in view of the current economic crunch.

This came as the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, hit N21.8 billion.

Sectors such as General Public Service, Economic Affairs, Environmental Protection, Housing and Community Amenities, Recreation, Culture and Religion and Social Protection will get less in 2012 than in 2011 budget.

State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Ben Akabueze, announced this, weekend, while presenting the “Year 2012 Fiscal Strategy” to stakeholders during a Budget Consultative Forum.

From the breakdown of the budget, General Public service which took 26.8 per cent in the 2011 budget will be cut down to 24.17, Economic Affairs dropped from 31.59 per cent to 31 per cent, while environmental protection was also cut from 8.16 per cent to 8.10 per cent.

Other sectors which will be affected by the cut down include Housing and Community Amenities pruned from 5.45 per cent to 5 per cent, Recreation, Culture and Religion from 1.52 per cent to 1.36 per cent while social protection was cut from 1.36 percent to 0.90 percent.

However, health and education sector will receive more funds in 2012, according to government’s proposed increase of allocation from 8.40 per,cent to 8.79 per,cent and 13.08 per,cent to 13.43 percent respectively.

Akabueze in his presentation noted that the increase was a clear manifestation of the areas the government intended to prioritize, saying despite the drop from 31.59 to 31 per cent, the Economic Affairs sector would receive the largest share due to its infrastructural development components.

Speaking on the State IGR, he put the annual revenue in the 2011 fiscal year at N262.620 billion, approximately N21.8 billion monthly.

He also gave a 77.9 percent performance of the IGR in the first half of the current year, saying combined with the federal transfer, both performed over 90 percent of the set target.

Chairman of the Lagos State Internal Generated Revenue, Mr. Babatunde Fowler confirmed the increased, saying more Lagos residents were paying their taxes promptly.