Business
CRS Floats N40bn Bond
The Cross Rivers
State Government has announced the floating of N40billion bond to address financial matters of the state.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Christian Ita, said the bond is not a fresh debt but a deliberate policy of the state government freezing the state of its current debt Burden.
The statement said the bond issued by the Cross Rivers State government is an application to recapitalize subsisting debts.
Ita said the first bond issued by the government was in 2002 when the State House of Assembly passed the first bond law to enable the then government of Donald Duke borrow funds to finance the Tinapa Project.
He said since 2002 the state government borrowing by bond has accrued interest to the state federation Account, thereby, limiting the government capacity to raise funds to bridge the funding gap in the state’s annual budget.
The CPS added that the current bond of N40 billion is an accumulated compilation of past debt, arising from the 2002 bond and subsequent state borrowing which is now being recapitatise and renegotiated with loarer interest rate and longer payment period.
The statement explained that the state’s finances has been in damager due to the fact that the 2002 bond was issued without the required debt management framework put in plate.
H e said the current request has put in place a robust bond law and debt management law with a regulatory framework to renegotiate the debt.