SAHARA REPORTERS
Zamfara State’s proposed 2025 budget reveals a significant disparity between its expenditure plans and internal revenue generation.
The state aims to spend a whopping N546 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, but it only expects to generate N32 billion internally, which is just 5.8% of its budgeted expenditure.
This raises concerns about the state’s reliance on external funding sources to meet its financial obligations. Governor Dauda Lawal has signed the N546 billion 2025 budget into law, prioritising key areas such as security, education, health, infrastructure, and agriculture.
The state expects to get N223 billion from the federally distributed revenue (FAAC).
Assuming Zamfara wants to pay salaries from its internally generated revenue, it would only pay 55% of workers’ salaries in 2025.
This is as its personnel expenditure is expected to gulp N58.3 billion.
Assuming the capital expenditure of the state is to be funded through internally generated revenue, only 8.1% of the budget estimate will be funded.
Between January and September 2024, the state only generated N18 billion internally.
Concerns have been raised about states’ dependence on federally allocated revenue and loans to fund their budgets. This reliance often results in high debt servicing costs, which are partly blamed for underdevelopment and inefficient use of scarce state resources.
As of June 2024, Zamfara State’s domestic debt stands at N62.5 billion, with an additional $27 million in external debt, according to data from the nation’s Debt Management Office.
THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN SAHARA REPORTERS
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