President Bola Tinubu has formally asked the Senate to approve a ₦1.15 trillion loan to help finance the 2025 budget.
According to a letter read to senators by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Tuesday in Abuja, President Tinubu intends to secure this facility from the domestic market.
The President clarified that the proposed borrowing is necessary to cover the deficit within the total ₦54.99 trillion budget.
He wrote:“I write to kindly request for the approval of the National Assembly to establish a N1,150,000,000.00 borrowing program in the domestic debt market to close the unfunded deficit gap created by the increase in the budget size over and above the prior approved revenue and borrowing plans.
“This request is pursuant to the provisions of Section 44, Subsection 1 to 2 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, FRA, of 2007, which requires the approval of the National Assembly for all new borrowings by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The distinguished President of the Senate may wish to note that the National Assembly passed a budget of N54.9 trillion, an increase of N5.25 trillion from the N49.74 trillion budget proposal by the Executive.
“This increase created a budget deficit of N14 trillion.
“However, the proposed borrowing approved in the budget was N12.95 trillion, which occasioned an unfunded deficit of N1.1 trillion.
“It is therefore necessary to increase the domestic borrowing limit in the 2025 budget by N1.147 trillion to close this gap.
“Based on the foregoing, I wish to request for the approval of the Senate for the establishment of a N1,150,000,000 Naira borrowing program in the domestic debt market to close the unfunded 2025 budget deficit gap.
“A specimen of the approval required for this purpose is attached as an extra tool.”
Meanwhile, the Senate President has referred the request to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt,
chaired by Senator Aliyu Wammako (APC, Sokoto North) for legislative action.
Persecondnews recalls that last week, the National Assembly had approved another borrowing of $2.3 billion for President Tinubu.
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