By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI — Imo State Government has proposed a budget of N141,219,133,849, termed “budget of total rescue and sustainability,” for the 2015 fiscal year.

Presenting the budget to members of the state legislature, yesterday, Governor Rochas Okorocha, said the budget represented an improvement from the last fiscal year’s N137,684,678,119.

Okorocha also stressed that recurrent expenditure for the 2015 fiscal year would be 43 per cent, while outstanding 57 per cent would be channeled to capital projects.

“Our revenue projections for 2015 are N119,698,633,849 for recurrent items and capital receipts of N21,520,500,000,” Okorocha said.

The governor explained that the higher allocation for capital expenditure, which he said, was “the thrust of the budget since 2012, is a policy meant to sustain the basic structure upon which other structures will stand to guarantee balanced development, industrialisation, private investments with high multiplier effects for wealth creation, employment generation, conducive business environment and improved welfare of the citizens.”

Continuing, Okorocha said the total allocation to economic and community development sector was N50.021 billion or 62.14 per cent of the total capital budget.

For the petroleum and environment sector, the governor said N1.2 billion had been set aside for the sub-sector, stressing that government would pursue full implementation of waste recovery and recycling programme state-wide.

The social services sector, which includes education, information, women affairs, social development, youths, sports development, health, community government and culture, was given a budgetary provision of N12.993 billion or 16.14 per cent of the total capital budget.