The Nigerian Senate has approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to borrow N2,343,387,942,848 to partly finance the 2021 budget size of N13tn.
The Senate’s resolution, on Wednesday, followed the approval of its Committee on Local and Foreign Loans as presented by the Chairman, Clifford Ordia.
The committee’s recommendation was for the Senate to approve Buhari’s request for $3bn, but not more than $6,183,081,643.40 Eurobond in the international capital market.
External borrowing of N2,343,387,942,848, according to the panel, should be for the financing of part of the deficit authorised in the 2021 Appropriation Act.
Also, the committee recommended that the Senate should go ahead to approve the amount authorised, saying the amount might be raised from multiple sources, including the international capital market and multilateral or bilateral sources.
It also recommended for the Senate to direct the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the Director General of the Debt Management Office and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to submit to the National Assembly, within 10 working days (excluding the day of close of trading), a letter containing the United States dollars amount so raised and received as a result of the above approval, together with the applicable exchange rate.
