The Imo State budgetary process is in line with the State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Program of World Bank"

*IMO STATE PUBLIC ENLIGHTENMENT*
           Hon. Chief C.C Osuala 


AHEAD OF THE YEAR 2022, IMO STATE BUDGET

The Imo State Commissioner for Budget, Economic Planning and Statistics, *Hon. Chief C.C Osuala* discusses with the Special Adviser to Imo State Governor on Public Enlightenment *Prince Eze Ugochukwu* on the 2022 Budget process.

*"The Imo State budgetary process is in line with the State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Program of World Bank"* ~ C.C Osuala. 


*Q* Hon. Commissioner, you have really done very well in your Ministry which includes winning budget support grants by the World Bank. At the Federal Level, the 2022 Budget has been presented. How soon can we expect the Imo State budget for 2022. Do we expect greater achievements than successes previously recorded.??

*Answer*:  Thanks for your commendation. The Imo State Budget 2022 Bill will be presented to the Imo State House of Assembly (IMHA), most likely by end of November. This time frame will give the Honorable Members adequate time for deliberation before passing it into appropriation law. As you are aware the process of preparing the 2022 budget commenced in June this year. The Imo State budgetary process is in line with the State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Program of World Bank. We started Sensitization of groups such as: the State Budget Committee, Physically Challenged persons, Meeting with President Generals, Civil Society Organizations, Open Government Partnership, etc. The budgeting process is on-going, and it is expected to be dipping the gains of 2021 Appropriation and continues into the 2022 People’s Budget. The People’s Open Budget participation are continuing in all the 27 LGAs in Imo State. The need for appropriate budget is to fairly and appropriately distribute available fiscal resources for the greater good of the citizens.

*Q*  Will you push for better performance of government owned enterprises (GOEs), with a view to impacting positively on our revenue generation to help fund the budget.

*Answer*:  The Imo State owned enterprises must improve their efficiency in today’s economic climate. This is important because most of the Government owned enterprises are poorly managed. The Wise strategy will be to involve private investors; and create a Public Private Partnership (PPP) to inject innovative management styles. Until the PPP is invoked the GOEs will remain a mirage. A case in point, is the Imo Shoe industry which is moribund, due to years of neglect and mismanagement and gruesome misappropriation and misapplication of State fiscal resources by previous administrations. When the rot in GOEs are corrected, they will start generating revenue, which will help in improving the internally generated revenue base of the State.

*Q* On the expenditure side, the current budget favoured capital expenditure more than recurrent which is good. Are you going to follow the same path of spending more on capital projects in 2022 to cushion the humongous  infrastructural deficits inherited by this administration.?

*Answer*:  An American adage says, “If it is not broken, don’t fix it.” The 2021 Budget has made profound impact in addressing the infrastructural decare that is confronting Imo State, after numerous locust years of inept administrations. Thank God; Governor Hope Uzodimma arrived with his God’s ordained Mandate to deliver his fellow Imo Citizens from the clutches of Herods and predictors years of infrastructural decay. Governor Hope Uzodimma deserves the credit for directing the Ministry to emphasis the need for Capital expenditure improvement in our appropriation mission. In a nutshell, the 2022 Budget must continue to reflect the infrastructural gains the citizens of Imo State are getting accustomed to. The Hope Uzodimma Infrastructural Revolution has come to stay.

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