The Commissioner for Finance, Cross Rivers State, Mr Asuquo Ekpenyong Jnr., on Friday said the state government has received $20.4 million grant from the World Bank’s States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme.
The Commissioner said the money would be added to the implementation of the state’s 2021 budget which aims at creation of jobs for the youths.
It was also stated that, the fortification of the state’s Internally Generated Revenue collection, implementation of biometric verification to stem payroll fraud, improved procurement practices for increased transparency, strengthening of its public debt management and fiscal responsibility framework, improved debt sustainability, and the institution of more transparent budgeting during the course of the budgeting year shot the state into the third position across states in the country to benefit from the grant.
He said “It was strenuous but we met the eligibility criteria for the 2019 programme and the state was pre-qualified for the detailed annual performance assessment of all qualified Nigerian states under the programme”.
“The STFAS programme is a product of mutual agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and World Bank designed to strengthen the fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainability in Nigerian states as a way of improving their revenue base, increasing fiscal transparency in public expenditure and reducing debt overhang,” Ekpenyong Jnr. added.