Niger earmarks N7.7bn for leave grant, debt servicing

The Niger state government has earmarked the sum of 1.3 billion to settle civil servants’ leave grant in the 2022 budget.

The government also budgeted the sum of N6.4 billion for servicing of internal and external debt services in the 2022 fiscal year.

The state Commissioner of Finance and Budget, Alhaji Zakari Abubakar stated this during 2022 budget breakdown press briefing on Monday in Minna.

He said Governor Abubakar Sani Bello’s administration is poised to accord prime importance to the state civil service as a catalyst for driving the administration developmental policy.

According to him, “The administration discovered that some civil servants in some ministries, departments and agencies were not captured in the 2021 leave grants hence the need to ensure that such categories are adequately captured in the 2022 budget.”

He explained that, in view of the importance the administration attaches to the welfare of civil servants the sum of 1, 331, 367,685, 91 representing 1.77 per cent of the budget was allocated to the payment of civil servants leave grant.

On the current debt profile of the state, the commissioner said the state is indebted to local and foreign creditors to the sum of over N87 billion, adding that some of the debt were inherited by the present administration.

He said that the sum of N2, 253, 507, 068.89k is to be used in the proposed budget for interest payment representing 3.38 percent of the total budget estimate.

“Similarly, under the economic sector, the state is also expected to use the sum N6.46 billion on debt servicing in the proposed budget estimate of 2022,” he said.