President Bola Tinubu has written to the National Assembly to seek approval for a fresh N1.767tn loan as a new external borrowing plan in the 2024 appropriation act.
If approved by the National Assembly, the loan will be used to part-finance the budget deficit of N9.7 trillion for the 2024 budget.
The President’s request was read by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abass, during plenary on Tuesday.
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.
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.
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Data sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria report on international payment statistics showed that the amount represents a 39.77 percent increase from the $2.56bn 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.
The trend in international debt servicing by the CBN highlights the rising cost of debt obligations by Nigeria.
Further breakdown of international debt figures showed that in January 2024, debt servicing costs surged by 398.89 percent, rising to $560.52m from $112.35m in January 2023. February, however, saw a slight decline of 1.84 percent, with payments reducing from $288.54m in 2023 to $283.22m in 2024.
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