FG Plans Fresh Financial Relief Package For States
The Federal Government, Saturday, said it is finalizing a conditional Budget Support Facility to provide financial relief to State Governments based on the states meeting a set of stringent fiscal conditions. The Finance Ministry, in a statement in Abuja, said the facility is aimed at providing support to the states to help them overcome their financial challenges.
The Ministry of Finance said the states would only be able to access the facility if they meet a stringent 22-point reform agenda called the Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP), that was approved by state governments, the National Executive Council, last month.
According to the Finance Ministry, the FSP encompasses a framework of reform measures including the requirement for the states to publish audited financial statements and budgets, biometric and Bank Verification Number (BVN) payroll review exercises to sanitise payroll costs, as well as limits on recurrent expenditure levels.
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Other reforms, the Ministry said, will require states to set and meet targets to enhance Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), the establishment of Efficiency Units to reduce overhead costs, privatisation of State Owned Enterprises, domestication of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and limitations on securing further bank loans.
