Reps approve Buhari’s $5.5 billion foreign loan request

The House of Representatives on Wednesday assented to the $5.513 billion foreign loan request by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Senate approved the loan request last week.

This means all three loan requests by the president before the National Assembly have been passed by both Houses.

Last month, both Houses approved an ₦850 billion borrowing request made by the President, which is to be sourced from domestic markets “to fund critical capital projects in the 2020 budget.”

Another $22.7 billion foreign loan which was approved by the Senate in March was, last week, approved by the House of Representatives.

The newly assented $5.513 billion foreign loans are the latest of the string of loans eyed by the federal government.

Nigeria’s debt profile, as of September 30, 2019, was ₦26.2 trillion. Of this amount, total domestic debts is about ₦18 trillion, or 68.45 per cent. About ₦8 trillion are owed to foreign lenders.

Meanwhile, the green chamber also passed the 2020 revised budget, having raised it from the proposed N10.59 trillion to N10.8 trillion.

The House, on the urging of Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, also inserted an additional N4 billion which would cater for the welfare of resident doctors in the country, who have threatened to go on strike next week.