Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has presented a budget proposal of N1.388 trillion before the state House of Assembly for the 2022 fiscal year.

The budget titled “consolidation” was presented to the lawmakers at Alausa, Ikeja on Wednesday.

The proposed budget was N138 billion higher than the 2021 budget, which stood at N1.25 trillion

The governor said the N1.388 trillion budget presented to the state house of assembly will deliver vital infrastructure projects in key sectors to energise and expand the growth of the state’s economy.

“Year 2022 Budget is the next step on our journey to true and sustainable greatness in Lagos,” the governor said.

“The challenging environment requires that we focus our interventions on areas of greatest social impact and achieving the greatest good for the greatest number in the shortest possible time.

“Next year is an excellent opportunity for us to consolidate on what we have done so far, and ensure that every effort, investment inflow, partnership, business policy is translating maximally into noticeable positive impact in the lives of our people.

“It is in this light that we are presenting the Year 2022 Budget of Consolidation with a size of N1,388,285,459,990.51.

“This financial proposal is presented with a sense of duty and absolute commitment to the transformation of Lagos to a preferred global destination for residence, commerce, and investment.

“The budget projects to see a continuing but gradual recovery to growth in economic activity as the global economy cautiously recovers from the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.”

The governor said that the investment into security had reaped positive dividends, and more allocation would be channeled into security in 2022.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said despite global economic downturn, the state delivered new infrastructure in the areas of roads, rail, housing, health, education and waterways.

He noted that 2021 budget, performed “remarkably well” despite the challenges encountered by the state.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, praised the governor for the “outstanding performance” of the 2021 budget, especially in infrastructural renewal and wealth creation among other things, promising speedy and meticulous vetting of the 2022 expenditure proposal.

Mr Obasa said the progress under the present administration was commendable, but urged the executive arm to look inward and devise another methods of improving the state’s internal revenue beyond the current sources.