President Bola Tinubu has requested the House of Representatives to approve a new external borrowing of $2.209 billion to help address the $9.179 trillion budget deficit outlined in Nigeria’s 2024 Appropriation Act.
This proposal was conveyed in a letter read by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas during Tuesday’s plenary session.
In addition to the external borrowing request, President Bola Tinubu also presented the “2025-2027 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper” and the National Social Investment Program Agency Establishment Amendment Bill 2024 for the National Assembly’s review.
Concerning the borrowing, President Tinubu sought the National Assembly’s resolution for its implementation, emphasizing that it aligns with the Debt Management Office Establishment Act 2023 and has already been approved by the Federal Executive Council.
“I write to request a resolution of the National Assembly to raise the sum of N1,767,610,321,779, equivalent to $2.209 billion, at the budget exchange rate of $1 to 800 Naira, as new external borrowing in the 2024 Appropriation Act to part-finance the budget deficit of $9.179 trillion in the 2024 budget,” the letter partly read.
On the 2025-2027 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, he urged the House to note that the 2025 Federal Government budget will be based on the approved framework’s parameters and fiscal assumptions.
He stressed the need for swift legislative action from the National Assembly on this matter.
Additionally, he called on lawmakers to consider and pass the National Social Investment Program Agency Establishment Amendment Bill 2024, which seeks to amend the National Social Investment Program Agency Act 2023.
President Tinubu explained that the purpose of the bill is to make the National Social Register the primary tool for targeting beneficiaries of the government’s social investment programs.
He emphasised that the bill will ensure the federal government’s social welfare programs are data-driven, with transparent, targeted, dynamic, and effective implementation processes aimed at delivering social protection benefits to vulnerable Nigerians.
It was previously reported that the Federal Executive Council recently approved a $2.2 billion financing program to support the Federal Government’s external borrowing plan.
This was disclosed was revealed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, during a briefing after Wednesday’s FEC meeting in Abuja.
