Buhari asks National Assembly to approve his plans for $30bn infrastructure loan

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has asked the National Assembly to  approve his plan to borrow $30bn from external financiers to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018.

 

Under an ambitious plan to develop Nigeria's infrastructure during his presidency, President Buhari intends approaching international lenders for a sum of $29.96bn. Under Nigeria's constitution, however, National Assembly approval is needed for the executive to obtain such loans.

 

In separate letters to senate president Senator Bukola Saraki, and speaker of the House of Representatives Hon Yakubu Dogara, President Buhari asked parliamentarians to approve his plans. Titled Request for Virement of Funds Appropriated for Special Intervention (Recurrent) and Special Intervention (Capital) for the funding of critical recurrent and capital items and  Request for Approval of Federal Government 2016 – 2018 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan, the two letters were read out on the floors of both chambers yesterday.

 

President Buhari said: "The total cost of the projects and programmes under the borrowing rolling plan is $29.960bn, made up of proposed projects and programmes loan of $11.274bn, special national infrastructure projects of $10.686bn, Euro bonds of $4.5bn and a federal government budget support of $3.5bn. Considering the huge infrastructure deficit currently being experienced in the country and the enormous financial resources required to fill the gap, in the face of dwindling resources and the inability of our annual budgetary provisions to bridge the deficit, it has become necessary to resort to prudent external borrowing to bridge the financing gap, which will largely be applied to key infrastructure projects, namely power, railway and road projects, among others.”

 

He said N180bn virement would be moved from monies already appropriated for special intervention programmes, both recurrent and capital, for funding of critical recurrent and capital items. Also, the president added that the request came up because of shortfalls in provisions for personnel costs, inadequate provision, ab initio, for some items like the amnesty programme, continuing requirements to sustain the war against insurgency and the depreciation of the naira.