President Bola Tinubu has sought the approval of Senate for implementation of 2.2 billon dollars new external borrowing plan. Tinubu’s request is contained in a letter addressed to President of Senate, Godswill Akpabio and read at plenary on Tuesday.
The letter is titled, “Request for the resolution of the National Assembly for the implementation of external borrowing of about 2.2 billion dollars in the 2024 Appropriation Act”
The President said the request is in accordance with the provisions of Sections 21(1) and 27(1) of the Debt Management Office (DMO) (Establishment, ) Act, 2003, and the approval of the Federal Executive Council..
“I write to request for a resolution of the National Assembly to raise the sum of N1.7 trillion, equivalent of 2.2 billon dollars at the budget exchange rate of one dollar to N800 provided as new external borrowing in the 2024 appropriation act to part finance the budget deficit of N9.179 trillion.”
The President said the funds were needed to give more impetus to the ongoing implementation of the projects and programmes in the 2024 appropriation act, which were designed to stabilise the economy. He said the key projects to which the proceeds would be deployed formed the priority sectors of the economy, such as power, transport, agriculture, defence and security.
”It is also important to add that the proceeds will increase the accrual to the external reserves as the proceeds will be received into the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) account, and thereby support the naira exchange rate”.
He said the plan was to raise the new external borrowing from a combination of commercial sources, such as issuance of Eurobonds, Sovereign Sukuk,International Capital Market (ICM), among other sources. Tinubu said Nigeria could raise all or part of the new external borrowing fund through the issuance of eurobonds in the ICM.
“Nigeria has been a regular issuer in the ICM and had raised 16.92 billion dollars out of which 15.12 billion dollars is outstanding. The ICM is now open to countries similar to Nigeria, and so far, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Kenya, and Cameroon have issued Eurobonds in the ICM in 2024.
“A debut Sovereign Sukuk of up to 500 million dollars in the ICM with credit enhancement from the Islamic Corporation are for Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), subject to the terms and conditions,” he said.
The President said lead managers such as Citigroup Global Markets Ltd, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered have been appointed through an open competitive bid to advise on the issuance of eurobonds, where it becomes necessary.
Tinubu seeks Senate’s approval of 2025–2027 MTF, FSP
President Bola Tinubu has formally transmitted the 2025–2027 Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) to the Senate. Tinubu is seeking prompt legislative approval of the documents to guide preparation for the 2025 budget.
In a letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu said that the MTEF/FSP had been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) during its meeting on Nov. 10. He said that the 2025 budget would be prepared based on the parameters and fiscal assumptions outlined in the MTF/FSP.
“It is imperative to seek the National Assembly’s expeditious legislative action on this submission. I trust that the Senate will consider the passage of this submission without delay,” the letter read.
Akpabio, thereafter, directed that the document be referred to the Committees on Finance, National Planning and Economic Affairs for further review.
The committees are expected to report back to the senate in due course to facilitate timely deliberations and approval. During the session, the senators voiced their support for the motion to refer the document to the relevant committees, with the motion receiving unanimous approval.
The senate is expected to deliberate on the committees’ findings and provide a final resolution on the framework and strategy paper in the coming weeks.
The MTF/FSP serve as critical policy instruments for Nigeria’s fiscal planning, outlining revenue projections, expenditure priorities and economic assumptions that guide budget formulation. Their timely approval is essential to ensure the smooth preparation and eventual implementation of the budget for the 2025 fiscal year.