Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has presented N160. 248bn budget proposal to the state House of Assembly for the year 2022.
Presenting the budget on Tuesday, Matawalle said the budget was coming at a period of heightened expectations from the people of the state, following the havoc done to the global, national, and local economies by the COVID pandemic in the year 2020 as well as the slow rate of recovery in the year 2021.
He said, “There are now glimmers of hope that the year 2022 is going to be a promising one going by the rate at which economies are rebounding, especially the significant improvement seen during the last quarter of 2021”.
“Of significance to Nigeria and our dear state, commodity prices are picking up, including that of oil which remains the major source of our country’s revenue and foreign exchange”.
He added, “Another ray of hope is the brighter prospect of the ongoing war against banditry which has taken a huge toll on our economy over the years.”
“While it is still early for us to declare that we have won the battle against the decade-long banditry, the stiffer measures that were taken across the northwest in the past three months to contain this hydra-headed evil have raised hope of the citizens and gave those who want to do business with our State reason to be optimistic.”
The governor maintained that despite the challenge of banditry and its devastating consequences on the economy and the social well-being of the people, his administration had forged ahead with the task of rebuilding the state and laying a more formidable foundation for its development.
