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C’River ‘achieves’ $20.4m World Bank grant

Clement James, Calabar

 

Cross River State government has said it has achieved World Bank grants worth $20.4 million given under States Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme.

The Commissioner for Finance, Asuquo Ekpenyong Jnr, disclosed this on Friday while briefing journalists on the achievement of his ministry

He said the state met the eligibility criteria for 2019 programme and pre-qualified for the detailed annual performance assessment of all qualified Nigerian states under SFTAS.

“The assessment exercise, which was conducted in September 2020 by the Independent Verification Assessor (IVA) from the office of the Auditor General of the Federation and JFR Consulting, showed that Cross River State achieved six Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLRs) out of nine applicable DLRs for 2019, and three DLRs out of three DLRs, i.e. 100% for the 2020 additional financing,” the commissioner said.

He added: “The report noted that Cross River State has strengthened its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) collection, implemented biometric verification to reduce payroll fraud, improved its procurement practices for increased transparency, strengthened its public debt management and fiscal responsibility framework, improved debt sustainability and instituted a more transparent budgeting process over the course of the fiscal year.”

Ekpenyong commended members of the SFTAS State Steering Committee for their untiring efforts in bringing the state machinery up to speed towards achieving resounding success in the programme.

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