By Camillus Eboh

ABUJA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has asked parliament to approve $30 billion of foreign borrowing to fund planned infrastructure projects until 2018, according to a letter read out to lawmakers on Tuesday.

Nigeria, an OPEC member, slipped into recession for the first time in more than 20 years in the second quarter largely due to low global oil prices. Crude oil sales account for about two-thirds of government revenue.

The proposed borrowing includes the sale of Eurobonds worth $4.5 billion and a planned budget support of $3.5 billion, according to the letter from Buhari read out by the Senate President and the speaker of the House of Representatives.

"The projects cut across all sectors with special emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth and employment generation, poverty reduction," Buhari said in the letter.

"It has become necessary to resort to prudent external borrowing to bridge the financing gap."

The borrowing was for the period until 2018, he added.

Buhari has already sent a draft budget for 2017 to parliament for approval. It lays out planned spending of a record 6.866 trillion naira ($22.55 billion) to help pull Africa's biggest economy out of recession.

The spending increase from 6.06 trillion naira this year aims to stimulate growth by funding infrastructure development to increase manufacturing, create jobs and reduce costly imports.

The government has held talks for months with the World Bank, China and other institutions to fund a 2016 budget deficit of 2.2 trillion naira but so far only the African Development Bank has publicly confirmed a planned loan of $1 billion.

Nigeria also wants to sell $1 billion in Eurobonds by the end of the year although as of Friday no bank to arrange the issue had been appointed.

Problems stemming from cheap oil have been exacerbated by militant attacks on energy facilities that have cut crude production, which was 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) at the start of 2016, by 700,000 bpd.

In an effort to contain militancy in the Niger Delta oil hub, Buhari also asked lawmakers to spend another 35 billion naira this year on an amnesty plan for former fighters.

Cash salaries had been paid to ex-militants only until May because the amnesty's original budget of 20 billion naira had fallen short. "This is creating a lot of restiveness and compounding the security challenge in the Niger Delta," Buhari said in a letter.

Oil output has improved to 1.9 million bpd, the petroleum ministry said in a tweet late on Monday, without giving details.

Nigeria's excess crude account, a rainy day fund, stood at $2.4 billion as of October, the government said in a statement, in line with previously reported figures. ($1 = 304.5000 naira) (Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3871940/Nigerias-Buhari-asks-parliament-approve-30-bln-borrowing.html

Lalasticlala

Another borrowing...

change

if that is the solution to our problem then he should borrow more...

Hypocrites. I thought you dishonest APC hypocrites have recovered trillions of naira and dollars from Diezani and Dasuki?

[size=28pt]Rejected.

I contact the CBN and I ask mr Godwin Emiefile to come and see me in canada. Mr Godwin emiefile did not come, even when I gave him my address. I have ask the security agent to start looking for a replacement for Mr Godwin Emiefile, Someone who can work with me.

I want to speak to mr Godwin Emiefile. If not, he will not be in office by 1 January of next year.
i believe mr Godwin emiefile did not go to school. Or he is tribalism bias.

[/size]

Buhari must be thinking "Afterall IB Jona borrowed with oil averaging $100pb+"

Jeez! This is the highest form of the "grand heist" as someone rightly talked about in another thread. For God's sake,what have Nigeria done to itself to deserve this worst form of government? The 2016 budget of scam have not even attained 10% implementation with no capital project executed yet.Meanwhile,staggering amount of monies have earlier been borrowed & alleged to have been recovered from the IGR & antigraft war. So what has became of all that? Then now this borrowing again? Nigeria is in for it.Unfortunately the NASS is never up to it constitutional responsibility. There is need for a revolution in Nigeria.

Why is this not yet on front page?

Lala, FP nah.. Or should I add snake and Olajumoke to the title?

$30b or 30bnaira? Now i can see the zombies trooping in to defend their Dullard that with $30b he would turn Nigeria Overnight to U.S.A.... how do you explain someone who squandered our Foreign reserve to its all time low to Manage $30b efficiently.

This is very good... The only problem is this is not clear enough..

I want a project attached to every kobo.. . So that we can monitor the loan

This is truly an end time loan

Buhari squandered the foreign reserve and the recovered loot without accountability. Now is plotting to create another unsustainable debt crisis.

IMF must hold the Katsina and northern areas where this money is borrowed to develop responsible for paying back because all these debts will definitely speed up the looming collapse of Nigeria.