The ex-President Muhammadu Buhari government borrowed N1.83tn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the “Ways and Means Loan” in the first quarter of 2023 before it exited office.
The CBN’s provisional data in its quarterly statistical bulletin disclosed this as sourced by Persecondnews.
According to the data, the additional figure of N1.83 trillion had pushed the federal government’s borrowing from the CBN to N25.36tn in March 2023 from N23.53tn in December 2022.
The “Ways and Means Advance” is a loan facility the central bank uses to finance the government during temporary budget shortfalls, subject to limits imposed by law.
According to Section 38 of the CBN Act, 2007, the apex bank may grant temporary advances to the Federal Government concerning the temporary deficiency of budget revenue at such interest rate as the bank may determine.
Persecondnews recalls that the Ways and Means Advance had been a subject of controversy as it was expeditiously approved by the National Assembly without questioning or vetting.
Financial experts believed the CBN exceeded its lending threshold to the federal government.
Meanwhile, the Debt Management Office in May announced the securitization of CBN’s N22.7 trillion Ways and Means advance to the federal government.
Nigeria’s total debt stock rose to N49.85 trillion excluding CBN’s Ways and Means Loans.
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