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.
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.