Loan: Buhari seeks to borrow $5.513 billion, writes NASS

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The President, Muhammadu Buhari has sought the approval of the House of Representatives to make a fresh borrowing of a total sum of $5.513 billion.

In a letter by the Nigerian leader read on the floor of the house this Thursday at the resumption of plenary, by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon.Femi Gbajabiamila, it said the funds were to be deployed for 2020 budget deficit, financing of critical projects, and for some states of the federation.

According to the Speaker, $3.4 billion of the money is to come from the International Monetary Fund, $1.5 billion from the Works Bank, $500 million dollars from the African Development Bank, while the Islamic Development Bank is to provide $113 million.

The borrowing would also be made from Export, Import Bank of Brazil and the African Export, Import Bank, The president through the letter also presented a revised 2020 Appropriation Bill and 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.

This is making it the second loan approval request to the National Assembly in one month.

It would be recalled that in late April, 2020, the Senate suspended all known rules of the house, and approved a loan request of N850 billion for the president.

Buhari’s letter seeking for the loan was read on Tuesday 28 April, 2020 by the President of the Senate Ahmed Lawan when they met physically at the National Assembly despite the coronavirus lockdown in Abuja.then.

The letter read in part, “Request for the National Assembly to raise N850 billion in new external borrowing in the 2020 Appropriation Act in naira from the domestic capital market.

“The Senate may wish to recall that the 2020 Appropriation Act provided for 1,594,986,700,544 of new domestic borrowing and N850 billion of new external borrowing. These borrowings were to part finance the 2020 budget deficit of 2,175,197,885,232 only.”