President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Senate to approve N2.3 trillion ($6.18bn) external loan for Nigeria.
President Buhari’s letter seeking the Senate’s approval was read by Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, during the resumption of plenary on Tuesday. The President said the loan was to finance the 2021 budget deficit of N5.6trillion. According to him, the loan would enable the Federal Government to fund critical infrastructural projects in health, education and other sectors.
This is coming barely a month after the Senate approved the sum of $1.5bn and €995 million external borrowings for the federal government.
The loans were part of the $5.5 billion and €995 million external borrowings President Muhammadu Buhari had, in May 2020, asked the Senate to approve to finance various priority projects of the Federal Government and to support the state governments facing fiscal challenges.