President Bola Tinubu has requested approval from the National Assembly for a ₦1.767 trillion ($1.05 billion) external borrowing plan under the 2024 Appropriation to finance a ₦9.7 trillion ($5.7 billion) deficit in the 2024 budget.
The funds, according to Tinubu, will support critical sectors like power, transport, agriculture, and defence, while also boosting external reserves to stabilize the naira.
The loan request comes amid concerns over Nigeria’s rising foreign debt servicing costs. According to a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) report, the Federal Government spent $3.58 billion on debt servicing in the first nine months of 2024, a 39.77 percent increase from $2.56 billion during the same period in 2023.
The report noted the highest monthly debt servicing payment in 2024 was in May at $854.37 million, while the largest in 2023 was $641.70 million in July. In January 2024, debt servicing surged by 398.89 percent to $560.52 million, compared to $112.35 million in January 2023, highlighting the growing burden of Nigeria’s debt obligations.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
