The Nigerian Senate has approved a $6.1 billion (N2.3 trillion) loan request by the Federal Government to fund the 2021 Appropriations Act.
This was approved by the Senate on Wednesday after a report presented by Senator Clifford Ordia, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, according to The Nation.
The Senator said the loan would be financed through multilateral and bilateral firms, adding that the Senate approved the borrowing of the sum of N4.6 trillion in the 2021 Appropriation Act and that the new borrowing of N2.3 trillion will part-finance the deficit in the 2021 budget.
What the senator said
Senator Ordia was quick to note that the borrowing plan was not new but was already approved when the National Assembly passed the 2021 Appropriation Bill.
“What we are about to pass is not a new borrowing, it has been approved in the 2021 budget,” Ordia said.
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said every cent in the proposed borrowed amount would count, urging that committees must be alive to oversee it.
“Let me thank the committee, this is not a new loan. This is a borrowing plan we have approved. What we have done is to provide the necessary resolutions for the implementation of it.
“Every cent counts. Our committees must be alive to oversee it. No frivolous expenditures should be entertained,” Lawan said.
In case you missed it
Nairametrics reported in May, that the President sent a letter to the Senate requesting for approval of the sum of $2.18 billion external loan to fund the 2021 Appropriations Act.
In the letter which was read in the Senate, the Presidency said it was “requesting for the Resolution of the National Assembly for the implementation of the external borrowing of 2.18 billion dollars in the 2021 Appropriations Act and Request for the approval of Donor Funded Projects under the 2018-2020 Federal Government external borrowing rolling plan”
Article originally published here.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login