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Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has said the state’s 400bn loans should be reduced to enable it finance its 2024 budget.
Otti said this on Saturday at a special presentation of the outcome of the state’s two-day retreat for IGR stakeholders in Ministries and Departments in the state.
Otti said, “Two weeks ago, the first round of the retreat took place in Umuahia. A lot of progress was made, but much is to be done. Government expectations are great revenue. What you have in your state is what you use to run your state”.
He added that in other climes, the government-generated income is used to run the economy, stating that it was a misnomer for subnationals to go to the centre cap in hand for allocations.
The governor said, “A large chunk of the 2024 budget is to be financed by loans and advances. I believe that at the end of the year, we will not borrow as much as put in the budget. If we do what we should do and we do it right, then there is no reason why the over 400 billion that is supposed to be raised as loans should not be reduced to the barest minimum.
“So, we expect a situation where our IGT would spike up and take over our provisions for loans. We believe that by the end of the year, we will not have borrowed as much money as we had put in the budget.”
