The Senate, on Wednesday, approved the sum of $2.6 billion out of the $5.5 billion external borrowing request sent to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari in May last year.
The approval came after the Upper Chamber considered a report by the Committee on Local and Foreign Debts during plenary.
The approved sum, according to the Chairman of the Local and Foreign Debt Committee, Clifford Ordia, would see €995 million euros going to finance priority projects of the federal government, while $1.5 billion (USD) would be disbursed to the thirty-six state governments to finance critical projects.
Out of the total sum approved, $1.5 billion is to be sourced from the World Bank; €671 million euros from the Export-Import Bank of Brazil; and another €324 million euros from the Deutsche Bank of Germany.
The tenor/moratorium of the loan to be sought from the World Bank is 25 years at an interest rate of 2.45 percent per annum; while that from the Export-Import Bank of Brazil is for 15 years at an interest rate of 2.935 percent; and the loan request from the Deutsche Bank of Germany for seven (7) years at 2.87 percent interest rate.
President Buhari, in a letter dated May 19, 2020, sought the approval of the National Assembly to secure a foreign loan to the tune of $5.513 billion to finance deficits contained in the 2020 budget.
He explained that the loan would be sourced from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, African Development Bank, Export, Import Bank of Brazil and the African Export, Import Bank.
According to President Buhari, out of the total $5.513 billion (USD) loan request, the sum of $3.4 billion (USD) would be sourced from the International Monetary Fund; $1.5 billion (USD) from the World Bank; $500 million (USD) from the African Development Bank; and $113 million (USD) from the Islamic Development Bank.
However, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt, Clifford Ordia (PDP, Edo Central), while giving a breakdown on the application of the sum approved National Assembly, disclosed that €995 million (Euros) would be deployed to finance priority projects to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to improve Nigeria’s food security through the mechanization of agriculture and Agro processing in Nigeria.
Credit: dailypost.ng
The post Senate approves govt’s $2.6bn foreign loan request appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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