President Muhammadu Buhari has written to both chambers of the National Assembly, seeking approval for $5.5bn external borrowing to be used to finance the 2017 Appropriation Act.
In the letter dated October 4, 2017, which President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, read in the chambers at their plenaries on Tuesday, Buhari referred the Senate to the 2017 budget, which has a deficit of N2.356tn and provision for new borrowing of N2.321tn.
He said the Act also provided for domestic borrowing of N1.254tn and external borrowing of N1.067tn (about $3.5bn).
The letter read in part, “Accordingly, the Senate is requested to kindly approve the following external borrowings: Issuance of $2.5bn in the international capital market through Eurobonds, or a combination of Eurobonds and Diaspora bonds for the financing of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s 2017 Appropriation Act and capital expenditure projects in the Act.
Add Comment