Recession: Ebonyi records increased IGR
Ebonyi Sta
te Government has perked up its Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, and adopted programmes to further increase its funds through mechanised rice and cashew farming and processing.
te Government has perked up its Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, and adopted programmes to further increase its funds through mechanised rice and cashew farming and processing.Though the State Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Dr Denis Ekuma Nkama did not give insight as to the percentage of the increase of the IGR, he said the increase followed measures put in place to control leakages and ensure accountability and probity in public spending He spoke in Abakaliki yesterday when he briefed newsmen in his office.
“I advocate that each state should have at least two cash crops with which they will be known for. For instance, you cannot talk about rice production without mentioning Ebonyi State and that is why our
governor made it a policy that everybody must have at least a hectare of rice farm. If other states like Kano and some states in West go back to Kano groundnut pyramid and cocoa plantation respectively then, within few periods, we will wriggle out of this recession.”
The finance boss revealed that the state government had commenced refunding of the bailout funds which the state government got from the federal government.
Dr Nkama said the state government immediately after securing the bailout funds made arrangement for the money to be deducted at source from the federation account on the allocation accruable to the state government, adding that the present administration under Governor David Umahi will not leave any loan unpaid.
On the Treasury Single Account, TSA, Nkama said Ebonyi State government was one the first states to key into the TSA policy which he said had saved a lot of money for the state government as it blocked various leakages in state funds.