The Union government will provide a further K79 billion in funding to regions and states over the remaining months of the 2018-19 fiscal year which will end on September 31, the Finance Commission decided in a meeting held on April 24.

President U Win Myint instructed that region and state governments ensure the additional funding is used effectively for work that will benefit local residents. Region and state governments should ensure that the quality of the projects is good, he said.

Region and state governments requested K224. 7 billion in additional funding but the Union government only agreed to K121.597 billion, said the Finance Commission’s vice chair and vice president U Henry Ven Thio during an earlier meeting on April 9.

It was initially decided that the central would provide an additional K39 billion in funding, but an extra K40 billion was added for development projects. The Union government had originally approved funding of K1.7 trillion for states and regions this fiscal year.

Shan State received K224 billion and Sagaing Region K182.4 billion, the second largest amount. Kachin State received K158.3 billion, Kayah State K55 billion, Yangon Region K62.6 billion, and Kayin State K79.1 billion.

The Union government had allocated K1.8 trillion to regions and states under the budget for this fiscal year.