31st December, 2023
By Kingsley Okoye
The Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request on the 2022-2024 external borrowing rolling plan of 7.4 billion dollars and 100 million euros.
This followed the adoption of a report of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt at plenary.
Presenting the report, Sen. Haruna Manu, the Vice Chairman of the Committee, said the committee noted with utmost importance, the genuine and very serious concerns of Nigerians about the level and sustainability, serviceability of the nation’s borrowing activities in the last decade.
He said the debt service figures constitute a huge drain on the nation’s revenue to the extent that it accounts for over 30 per cent of its expenditure in the annual budget.
Manu said due to the shortfall in the nation’s annual revenue against its need for rapid infrastructural and human capital development, the National Assembly has had to pass a deficit budget every year.
This, he said required borrowing to finance the deficit in the budget.
Manu said the money was proposed to be borrowed from various financial institutions.
According to him, the proposed projects in the Ministries of Education, Agriculture and Women’s Affairs were mostly ongoing projects and programmes in respect of which externally borrowed funds have been spent in the past, including loans.
He said the projects have a great multiplier effect on stimulating economic growth through infrastructure development, job creation and poverty alleviation, and stimulation of commercial and engineering activities.
The Taraba senator said the projects also have consequent tax revenues payable to the government as a result of the productive activities.
He said the committees found that the World Bank has expressed its willingness to provide funds to improve the reliability of electricity supply, achieve financial and fiscal sustainability, enhance accountability and also ensure that all existing grid-connected capacity is utilised to deliver more power.