The federal government Tuesday inaugurated the National Steering Committee for the States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme-for-Results.
According to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Mrs. Zainab Ahmed who inaugurated the committee, the programme “is financed with the loan of $750 million from the World Bank to support the states through the provision of performance-based grants.”
From this amount, $700 million has been earmarked for the programme while the balance of $50 million is for financing of technical assistance to enable the States to achieve specified Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) towards qualification for the grants.
Zainab Ahmed noted that “the DLIs are derived from the already established 22-Point Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) by the Federal Government and the Open Government Partnership (OGP) commitments.”
This she said “is aimed at strengthening the desired fiscal reforms at the sub-national level and participation in the Programme is open to all States of the Federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”
The minister disclosed that the implementation of the programme has commenced with a fully-functional Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) domiciled in the Home Finance Department, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.
The National Steering Committee (NSC) is expected to give strategic direction to the PCU and ensure the smooth implementation of the Programme.
In his address, Permanent Secretary, Special Duties of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Aliyu Ahmed, who chairs the body, stated that the federal government introduced the Budget Support Facility (BSF) in the form of soft loans to enable the States finance their capital budget.
All the states he said participated in the programme, except Lagos.
