EKITI State Governor, Ayo Fayose, on Tuesday presented a total of N93.46billion as estimates for the state’s expenditure for the year 2017 to the House of Assembly.

Of the sum, recurrent expenditure would gulp N55.03 billion, while capital expenditure received N38.43billion.

The figure is 33 percent higher than the 2016 revised estimates, which was N70.5 billion.

Mr. Fayose, while making his remarks, said it was not the intention of his government to increase the budget beyond the revenue of the government, but certain fiscal realities were taken into consideration.

“In arriving at this figure, we took into consideration various Parameters, Assumptions and Indications. Issues like the Exchange rate, inflation figure, Crude oil price, Oil Production and Inflation, among others,” he said.

“But in our characteristic manner, we chose to be conservative believing that it is better to budget within achievable limits rather than overload the budget document with unrealistic figures.”

The governor said the N93.5 billion would be sourced from federal allocations, internally generated revenues from MDAs, tertiary institutions. VAT, Education Intervention Fund, grants and loans, MDGs conditional grant schemes, reimbursements from the federal government on road projects, Paris Club refund of differentials, and sundry incomes.

The revenue profile indicated that the bulk of the funds would come from federal allocations with an annual expectation of N31billion, followed by VAT and external loans which records N10billion and N8.4billion respectively.

Mr. Fayose explained that a large percentage of the capital estimates was allocated to infrastructure in a bid to ensure “transformation” of the landscapes with good roads, modern public buildings and potable water.

“Our Social Security Scheme will receive additional boost with provision for widows and women empowerment,” he said.

“The ongoing works on the Ado Ekiti Flyover bridge, Oja Oba Modern Market, Ikere Road Dualization, Construction of Governor’s Office and High Court Complex among others shall continue.

“We shall also dualize more roads in some Local Government Headquarters. We hope to complete some ongoing rural electrification projects and start new ones in Ile Ona, Iwaji, Igeede, Ilokun and Aba Igbira Waste Plant among others. We intend to boost our capacity in Agriculture by supporting our farmers in Cocoa and Rice production.”