The Enugu State House of Assembly on Monday began public hearing on a bill to establish Enugu State Debt Management Office and Other Related Matters Connected Therewith.
The Speaker of the House, Mr Edward Ubosi, had directed the joint ad-hoc committee on Finance and Appropriation, Judiciary, Anti-corruption, Public Petition and Ethics and Privileges to hold public hearing to help fine-tune the bill before it will be passed into law.
Mr Chuka Eneh, the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, told journalists after declaring the public hearing open that the essence was to enable the public to make input into the bill before its passage into law.
Eneh, who is also the chairman of the joint ad hoc committee, stressed that when passed into law, it would move the state forward since her debt would be managed effectively.
He also said that members of the public had one week to make their submissions on the bill before his committee would turn its report to the House as directed by the Speaker.
“Naturally, most organisations that will help facilitate loans will like to know how you can manage the loan.
“The professionals will always like to look at the Debt Management Law, to know how serious the state is before they will agree to do business,’’ Eneh said.
He said that the establishment of the Debt Management Office (DMO) would make it easier for management of debts in the state.
“The DMO will be in a better position to handle the fund.
“DMO will go a long way in reducing a lot of burden for the Accountant General as well as the Ministry of Finance in debt management of the state,” Eneh said.
He explained that before now, getting a loan or a bond had always been difficult for the state government, adding that ” when the DMO is established, it would be easier to procure loans and bonds without much ado since there is the possibility of managing the debt effectively’’. (NAN)