Edo state Governor, Godwin Obaseki has signed the Revised 2020 Appropriation Bill into law as he promised to make necessary sacrifices to ensure the betterment of Edo state is attained amid the looming novel virus in the state.
Obaseki said the budget is coming at an unusual time when the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed certain challenges in the state
He further stated The challenges may be difficult, but in the medium and long-term, this administration would do its best to reshape the state’s economy, so it can flourish amid Covid-19 crises.
The Governor said the state will focus on critical infrastructure after paying all workers and pensioners their monthly dues.
He said:
“The financial and economic consequences of COVID-19 pandemic are challenging, if not more challenging than the health crisis it created. Following several reforms taken by this administration, especially in our financial management and budgeting system, and that of the economy, the impact has not been so devastating.”
“We have been able to pay workers’ salaries and also pay our pensioners on time. We will focus on critical infrastructure that is required for production. We would be realigning the Edo economy to make us stronger after the pandemic comes to an end.
“With this budget as a state, we need to make painful adjustments as we don’t intend to lay off workers or stop paying pensioners. We would spend more on recurrent expenditure as we keep jobs on, but it will affect capital expenditure that we wanted to undertake this year 2020.”
“People and nations are no longer depending much on energy and crude oil, following the slowdown in the global economy. Transportation has been grounded, factories are not producing as we are having a cyclical shift in earning profile and its fundamentals as life may not go back to what it used to be.”
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