COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom says South Carolina state agencies need to make immediate spending cuts.

Eckstrom told Gov. Mark Sanford in a letter Monday that the state Budget and Control Board needs to implement 4 percent cuts next week.

Eckstrom is typically an ally of Sanford on the financial oversight board. Sanford wrote agencies last week asking them to voluntarily set aside 4 percent of their budgets. But Eckstrom said that agencies would be better off taking immediate cuts to head off overspending.

Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said Sanford still wants cuts to wait until legislators can make targeted reductions in January instead of across-the-board cuts now.

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