Imoke further urged the participants to see budgeting as an imperative process that will drive the developmental policies of the State just as he asked stakeholders in all sectors of the economy to be versatile in thinking, in order to ensure professionalism not just in service delivery but also in human capacity building.
According to him, regular payment of taxes will help advance government’s commitment to providing social amenities and enhancing good governance. The governor reiterated that budget consultation calls for a collation of ideas that will help profer innovative ways of growing the state’s tax base system in order to boost the economy and also encourage investors to do business in the State. He therefore charged the Budget Department to assiduously work together in making the Cross River State budgeting process efficient, while also commending the effort of the Special Adviser on Budget and Ag.Chairman Board of Internal Revenue Service, Peter Oti and his team for exhibiting an exceptional drive in growing the state’s internal revenue profile.
In his presentation at the occasion, the SA Budget, Peter Oti said the essence of the consultative forum with stakeholders is one of the key programmes of the Imoke administration, noting further that the Department was created to interface with civil society organizations and government agencies to effectively ensure government’s policies and programmes are executed within specified timelines. According to him, the 2014 budget, christened the Budget of Progression, is driven by the present administration`s commitment to accountability and transparency in governance as well as to ensure that all items of expenditure are properly documented and accounted for in line with the dictates of a proper public financial management system”. There is no doubt that the rural transformation and socio-economic growth experienced in the state have direct bearing on the administration`s adoption of transparent budgeting and highly credible public financial management processes” he added.
