LASG Expresses Optimism to Improve Revenue Generation amid Economic Downturn

Gilbert Ekugbe

The Lagos State government has expressed optimism of boosting its Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) despite the harsh business environment.

The Commissioner of Economic Planning and Budget, Lagos State, Sam Egube at the Y2023 budget consultative forum, Ikeja Division, said the State is resilient to improving its revenue to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 2 per cent to 5 per cent.

According to him, the State would continue to streamline its processes to boost its IGR, adding that the State’s IGR has continued to improve for the past three years.

He noted that the State government would also be prioritising investment in digitalising its processes, saying that digitising its process would triple the State’s revenue base.

He said the forum is a commitment the Lagos State government has with the people of Lagos and its promise that the governance structure would be consultative in nature

“The idea of the forum is to report back to the people. Last year they asked for some certain things, some of them we were able to do and some we have not, so it is important we come back and report to them.

“So far the people of Lagos are happy in terms of my reporting. They made certain requests and they acknowledged certain things they asked for and they encouraged us to do a lot more. We are happy because they are participating and working with us so that we are on target on everything we are doing,” he added.

He said the development of Lagos is a collective effort adding that the Fitch rating of triple A for Lagos is a reflection of the successful partnerships the State has continued to improve upon.

“This forum is the beginning of a budget cycle and it is to see what the people are talking about. We are working on a medium term framework to capture the additional requests and rationalise it. We have a medium term sector strategy that prices the budget expenditure initiatives while also prioritising it, “he said.

He said the state’s Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) currently stands at N346 billion compared to N451 billion it recorded last year, pointing out that the IGR represents a 77 per cent performance.

In his words: “We have always exceeded an 80 per cent budget performance in this administration. We really want to do a 100 per cent. It is our aspiration that we will move this performance as we move into the second quarter to hit over 80 per cent. Over the last three years, our State has achieved very strong budget performance in the neighborhood of 80 per cent and that is something we will continue to drive irrespective of the challenges we face as a nation.”