By Christiania Ekpa
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has written to the National Assembly to approve a fresh N1.767 trillion as a new external borrowing plan in the 2024 appropriation act.
According to the President, the loan is based on an exchange rate of N800 to $1.
Tinubu’s request was read by the speaker, Tajudeen Abbass, during plenary yesterday.
Accordingly, if approved, the loan will be used to part-finance the budget deficit of N9.7 trillion for the 2024 budget.
The president has also forwarded the MTEF/FSP 2025-2027 to parliament and the National Social Investment Programme establishment amendment bill to make the social register the primary tool for the implementation of the federal government’s social welfare programmes.
It would be recalled that last week the Federal Executive Council, (FEC) approved a $2.2 billion external borrowing plan as part of the Federal Government’s 2024 Appropriation Act financing program.
With the latest move to get an additional $2.2 billion fresh borrowing plan Nigeria’s external debt may increase to $45.1 billion by the end of 2024.
This is as the Central Bank of Nigeria recently said the Federal Government spent $3.58 billion servicing the country’s foreign debt in the first nine months of 2024.
CBN’s data on international payment statistics showed that the amount represents a 39.77 per cent increase from the $2.56 billion spent during the same period in 2023.
According to the report, while the highest monthly debt servicing payment in 2024 occurred in May, amounting to $854.37m, the highest monthly expenditure in 2023 was $641.70m, recorded in July.
External debt for the states and the Federal Capital Territory also climbed from $4.61bn to $4.89bn within the period under review.
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