The Akwa Ibom State Executive Council has proposed a 2013 draft budget amounting to N459,305,166,710.

The draft budget soon to be forwarded to the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly for consideration and approval sees Capital Expenditure being given N340,515,000,000 or 82 per cent while Recurrent Expenditure will gulp N118,790,166,710 representing 18 per cent.

Briefing Government House correspondents in Uyo after the EXCO meeting Thursday, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Bassey Albert Akpan, said the amount showed a decrease of 12 per cent over the amount approved for this year’s budget.

He explained that the draft is tagged “Budget of Consolidation and Industrialisation”, while government policy thrust would hinge on completion of on-going development projects, continued provision of basic infrastructure and security as well as implementation of the state industrialisation programme.

Mr. Akpan noted that in drawing up the budget, the government considered fluctuating petroleum prices in the international market, saying that the government would explore internally generated revenue to help in the implementation of the budget.

The commissioner hinted that unlike the N2 billion budgeted for entrepreneurs this year, the government has increased the sum to N5 billion in its desire to assist genuine entrepreneurs in the state to expand their operations.

Contributing, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr. Aniekan Umanah, stated that with the budget, the State Government would complete and commission turnkey projects such as Tropicana Entertainment Centre, International Stadium, Uyo, Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul (MRO) facility of Akwa Ibom International Airport, among others.

Mr. Umanah said that the people’s budget – as he put it – would see to the completion of many people-oriented projects and called on the people to support government in the successful implementation of the budget.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary in Budget Department, Uyo, Mr. Nicholas Ekarika, commended the government for the budget and for consistently adhering to Federal Government accepted benchmark of 82 per cent for Capital Expenditure and 18 per cent for Recurrent Expenditure.

•Photo: Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Bassey Albert Akpan.