President Jonathan seeks House of Assembly Approval to Borrow $ 7.9 billion from World Bank, Others

The Federal Government has unveiled plans to borrow $ 7.9 billion (N 1.2 trillion) from the World Bank and other multi-national financial institutions. The President sent a letter along with a list of projects to the National Assembly yesterday under the Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF), asking for their assent to the loan.

The money requested is over a three-year period and will see the Nation’s debt profile rise astronomically.

In the letter sent to the National Assembly leaders, President Jonathan said, “I wish to inform you that a number of special initiatives were designed to put the economy back on track through growth and employment activities geared towards the implementation of the transformation agenda. In that regard, a number of projects have been designed to create employment opportunities with a view to growing the economy.

“The pipeline projects are at various stages of finalization. Therefore, I present herewith a total external pipeline borrowing in the amount of $7.9 billion or $2.64 billion a year being a cumulative facilities offered by the World Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of China and Indian lines of credit.

“The objectives of the projects conform to the Transformation agenda of our administration and cut across various sectors of the economy. The initiatives are meant to put the economy on track through growth and employment.”

The House of Assembly will debate on assenting to the President’s request or declining it.

One Comment

1. 

   yemi omowumi

   February 15, 2012 at 8:46 pm

   Nigeria must be careful not to fall into Greece position. Nigeria have enough resouces to fund all developmental projects without international borrowing but for corruption and inadequate tax and internally generated revenue.