Lagos State is to be credited N39.4bn as approved by the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank to support a range of reforms relating to fiscal sustainability, budget planning, budget execution and the investment climate in the state.
A statement issued by World Bank on Wednesday, July 1, 2015 confirmed that the facility would help sustain the state’s recent economic growth and poverty alleviation, while helping it to continue to deliver social services to the expecting population.
The Third Lagos State Development Policy Operation gets the credit from the International Development Association segment of the World Bank Group and is the last of a series of two development policy operations, which aim to improve public finances and the investment climate in a fiscally sustainable manner.
In the past decade, Lagos State gained a significant economic growth, improved its infrastructure and services, drastically reduced in crime rate and brought millions of people out of poverty. said the World bank.
Jariya Hoffman, the World Bank Task Team Leader for this project, stated that with enhanced budget transparency and efficiency, adequate funding could be shifted to programmes to benefit the state’s booming population, especially the poorest families.
“The operation’s focus on furthering improvements in the transparency of the budget system, effectiveness of public expenditures, and the business climate will help sustain the pace of economic growth and thus the state’s positive momentum towards income equality and the delivery of public services,” he stated.
Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, said, “This operation is designed to assist Lagos State in its quest to continue its recent success in spite of the challenges brought on by rapid economic and population growth.
“As an urban agglomeration that has reduced income inequality during double digit economic growth, Lagos is an example of inclusive growth in Nigeria. If the Lagos experience is sustained, there is strong potential for this type of inclusive growth to spread to other parts of Nigeria.”
