SAN FRANCISCO, May 22, (THEWILL) – The Lagos State government has stated that it had achieved an average monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N34 billion in 2018, compared to the monthly averages of the last three years.
This was disclosed by the state’s Finance Commissioner, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade, at the ongoing annual ministerial press briefing to mark the third anniversary of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration.
Akinyemi attributed the improvement to the impact of the ongoing reforms and growth in the state’s economy saying the IGR will continue to rise even further, as the state continues to implement the various reforms, driven by wider technology adoption and innovation.
“Notably, we are recording gradual improvement in our average monthly IGR in 2018, compared to the levels achieved in previous years due to the impact of ongoing reforms and growth in the state’s economy,” he stated.
“Based on our first quarter results, Lagos State has so far achieved an average monthly IGR of N34 billion in 2018 compared to monthly averages of N22b, N24b and N30b in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
“The target we set for ourselves is N50 billion, but we all know the kind of push backs we have experienced, including people going to court and all that. Our commitment is not for now, its for the future of Lagos.
“We know it’s a marathon, we would win some and we would lose some, but we are very committed towards ensuring that we meet the target, but if we don’t meet it this year, definitely there will be another year, but we believe we will succeed in that target we set for ourselves.
“Furthermore, we are in ongoing discussions with the Federal Government towards obtaining a refund for expenditure totalling N51billion that was incurred by the state government on behalf of the Federal Government for infrastructure projects developments in the state.
“We are optimistic of successful discussions that will result in the approval and payment of the amount owed to the state government by the Federal Government.”
Giving an update on the state’s Debt Profile, the commissioner said the government’s debt stock, comprising 48 per cent local debt and 52 per cent foreign debt currently stood at N874.38billion at the end of 2017, while the debt service charge to total revenue ratio which stood at 17.61 per cent was still within the World Bank threshold of 30 per cent.
