Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve an $8.6 billion loan request, which will raise the West African country's external loans to $51.8 billion.
On Tuesday, the president said that the funds, which will cover 2022-2024, will be used to finance critical infrastructure such as roads, water facilities, railway, electricity, and healthcare facilities.
As of June 2023, Nigeria's external debt profile stood at $43.2 billion, while loans borrowed locally totalled $68.9 billion.
Tinubu had, in early November, asked the National Assembly to approve a $7.8 billion external borrowing plan.
Socio-economic development
The president said that his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari's government had approved the loan request on May 15.
"I would like to underscore the fact that the projects and programmes in the borrowing plan were selected based on economic evaluations as well as the expected contribution to the socio-economic development of the country," Tinubu's letter, read out by Senate leader Godswill Akpabio, said.
"Given the nature of these facilities, and the need to return the country to normalcy it has become necessary for the Senate to consider and approve the 2022-2024 external abridged borrowing plan to enable the government deliver its responsibility to Nigerians," Tinubu said.
The president had also informed both houses of parliament that he intended to unveil his 2024 budget on Wednesday. The government estimates to spend 27.5 trillion naira ($35 billion) in the 2024 financial year.
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