THE Lagos State Government has assured investors and partners of the state government that the ongoing infrastructural projects would not stop when the tenure of the present administration expires next year.
Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi, gave the assurance at the 2014 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the N275billion Debt Issuance Program organised by the Ministry of Finance, Dept Management Office in Lagos.
Gbeleyi, who said the government was making steady progress with the support of the bond holders, noted that infrastructural development in the state would not have been possible with the payment of taxes and transfers alone.
He said the state government is determined to continue to follow examples in developed countries all over the world by prudently using debt to finance infrastructure to achieve optimal results.
While allaying fears that the ongoing development in the state will suffer a setback after the tenure of Governor Babatunde Fashola’s administration, Gbeleyi further stressed that structures have been put in place to ensure that the next administration build on the achievements of the present government.
He said: “As we go into the elections, we trust that the new administration will come up with new actions and financial strategies that will include fresh bond issuance programs to fund development projects in the state.
“There is a framework of legislation and existing laws under which the bond is managed, so it would be sustained. We have put on ground existing legal structures to ensure that the next administration use this platform to drive its development plans.”
“The monies that have been raised in the series of bonds so far have been prudently applied to projects that would turn the lives of the residents around. We have gained the confidence of the investors. We had a N275bn bond issuance program approved by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).
“Late last year, we issued the last tranche of that bond and that marks the closure of that particular program. Most of our bonds were oversubscribed. For last year, it was 139 per cent subscribed which shows the confidence reposed in this administration by the investors and the global rating agencies.”
