2018 budget: A’Ibom government denies presenting over bloated estimates

The Akwa Ibom Government says its 2018 budget has not been not “over bloated’’ as being speculated by Policy Alert, an nongovernmental organisation (NGO). based in Uyo.
The state’s Commissioner for Finance, Linus Nkan, made this known, in Uyo, on Wednesday.
According to the commissioner, the accusation was baseless and without facts.
Nkan said the proposals for it were anchored on estimates and not actual, which enabled the government to make adjustments.
He said that the allegation was misleading considering the current exchange rate of the country’s currency against the dollars.
The commissioner explained that the exchange rate was important in determining the size.
“While the 2017 budget was based on an exchange rate of N196 to a dollar, the 2018 budget is pegged on an exchange of N305 to a dollar.
“The NGO did not state the basis of its suggestion,  because the budget size of Akwa Ibom in 2017 and 2018 had different benchmarks.
“If we actually want to compare the size of last year and this year’s budget in dollars, the 2018 own is smaller than that of 2017.’’
The commissioner explained that the debt inherited by the present government was not significant and borrowing money to fund development projects was not against any financial regulations.