FG FRUSTRATING OUR PLANS TO ACCESS N23BN BOND – KWSG The Kwara State government on Wednesday claimed that the federal government was stalling its plan to obtain a N23bn bond from the capital market to enable it prosecute some capital projects in the state. The state commissioner for Information, Prince Tunji Moronfoye, during an interview with newsmen noted that the federal government’s latest antic was part of plot to starve state governments under the control of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) of fund. He noted that the federal government hade taken the unfavourable action too far with an alleged instruction to financial institutions to decline lending the state government the required funds for infrastructural projects. Moronfoye said in spite of the grand plot to render the state redundant financially, the state government has been operating with strict financial acumen. “We have tried to access N23billion bond, it was refused by the federal government. We also attempted to access normal loans from the banks, they were also blocked by the federal ministry of Finance. Instruction had been given that we should not be borrowed money. “The unfortunate thing about that is this; they are stopping the banks from doing business. Kwara state is economically and financially viable. We have paid the last bit of the former bond, which is N17billion bond, which DR BUKOLA SARAKI took when he was governor. We paid that on August 5, 2014. Everything was complete. “So what is the basis for this? It is obviously political. And we have sent a political message as well that during the elections, we would not be intimidated, and we are going to stand by the APC”. Commenting on the austerity measures, the commissioner said the state government had adopted the approach long ago even before the current slide in oil price in the international market. The commissioner disclosed that the state government was targeting N1.5billion from this year as its monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in its current drive to develop the state, adding that the government would dwell on natural resources while tightening all financial loopholes. He stated that the government would also generate more funds through small scale business, foreign direct investment as well as tourism sector. He said, “at this point in time, we are oscillating between N600 and N800 million per month, and what we want to do, is to jerk it up. At least, we should hit N1.5billion per month. We are going to tighten a lot of loopholes that made us to lose money.”
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 09:14:26 +0000
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