Kaduna State Government has said it anticipates that the state’s gross annual revenues could fall by N17bn if crude oil prices remain around $30 a barrel.
It said the revenue could further drop to N24bn in 2020 if the price of crude falls to $20 per barrel.
The state government said, while either scenario will jeopardise the discharge of obligations to personnel, pensioners or running of the government, the administration intends to curtail the implementation of capital projects if the two oil price scenarios persist.
A statement issued from Sir Kashim Ibrahim House and signed by the Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, said the state will now prioritise capital projects, especially those in the Health and Education sectors as well as infrastructure but will nonetheless uphold social safeguards like the minimum monthly pension of N30, 000.
It said the state will cut costs and expand revenue sources such as presumptive tax, land use charges and development levy to remain afloat, adding that; “government will cut overheads expenses by 50% and centralise expenses like buying of fuel and stationery. The Government will also introduce debit cards as the sole mechanism for funding overhead expenses of MDAs. This will promote transparency and limit expenses.”
The statement further said the measures were adopted in anticipation of the steep decline in revenues, adding that belt-tightening measures were adopted following a robust debate on the interim report of the Economic Crisis Committee, at a meeting chaired by Governor El-Rufai and attended by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe and senior government officials.
It stated that the Head of Service will issue a circular that removes all cases of duplicate BVNs from the state payroll, adding that “public servants who do not present evidence of their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) will also be temporarily removed from the payroll,’’
It also stated that while the government will conclude its ongoing recruitment process, resumption of new recruits will be put on hold until the fiscal situation is clearer while foreign trips have now been suspended.
