Lawmakers in Nigeria have agreed to increased the level of the Federal Government’s indebtedness to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This is coming amidst the harrowing economic woes that is affecting business growth in Nigeria after a poorly timed move towards driving a cashless policy system.
Read Also: Q1: Bua Foods’ Revenue Rises To ₦144.3bn
The green chamber’s lawmakers on Thursday approved the Ways and Means loans obtained by the Federal Government from the CBN to the tune of ₦23.7 billion.
The approval totally negates the original position of the House of Representatives with regards to President Muhammadu Buhari’s request.
President Buhari, had since December 2022 requested for the National Assembly to approve FG’s domestic borrowing from the CBN.
So barely three weeks to the end of the Buhari-led regime, the House made a U-turn on the request and gave its approval after a Joint House Committee on Finance sitting.
On Thursday, the Joint House Committee on Finance; Banking and Currency; and Aids, Loans and Debt Management laid its report on the request, which the lawmakers considered as a Committee of Supply and approved in plenary.
You May Also Like: Regulatory Approval: TD Bank To Lose $225m In Failed Merger
Committee’s Recommendation
The lawmakers recommended that the House “approve the requested additional ₦1tn Ways and Means Advances for the implementation of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act as passed by the National Assembly”.
Also recommended by the committee is the “approval of the securitisation of the total outstanding Ways and Means amount under the following terms: Amount ₦23,719,703,774,306.90; tenor, 40 years; moratorium on principal repayment, 3 years; pricing/interest rate, 9% per annum”.
