Gov’t prioritize settlement of debts owed SMEs
The 2018 state budget has gone operational with officials of
the ministry of finance promising brighter days for SMEs through the settlement
of debts owed them. The debt owed SMEs (Commercial debt) stands at 122bn CFA)
while the total internal debt stands at 1600bn FCFA (28% of total public debt).
With
the 2018 state budget now operational, the major challenge for public finance
stakeholders is to manage the country’s economy to ensure that growth
indicators are kept in check in 2018. Officials say though the budget took many
factors into account, debt servicing remains the priority.
“As of
today we have paid suppliers up to the 30th of September 2017. We still owe
them for the months of October, November and December. We will program and even
accelerate the payments to these small and medium size enterprises,” the
director general of treasury and monetary cooperation, Moh Sylvester, assured,
revealing that for the first time the government has put aside about 200
billion fcfa for payment of outstanding debts owed business operators in the
previous year.
Other
priority areas of the budget include financing preparations for the 2018
elections, respecting the economic program with IMF and financing the execution
of PIB projects across the country. Officials say with assistance from
development partners they will meet the challenge.
“With
financial assistance we received from development partners, instructions have
been given by the minister of finance to ensure that funds are made available
to finance all these aspects of the budget. So, we have asked SME’s to keep
their files up-to-date for payments to be effected,” assured the DG of the
National Autonomous Sinking Fund, Richard Evina. An envelope of 4513 billion fcfa is the budget package of the
state for 2018. It is expected that this package will enable different players
to contribute their quota to the country’s economic growth.
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