President seeks Senate approval for $5.5 billion loan

President Muhammadu Buhari has written a letter of request to the Senate to seek approval for an external loan of $5.5 billion.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, read the president's letter to lawmakers during plenary session on Tuesday, October 10, 2017.

In the letter, President Buhari explained that the loan will be sourced through the issuance of Euro and Diaspora bonds and will be used for capital projects in the 2017 budget and refinancing of domestic debts.

The letter read, "Accordingly, the Senate is requested to kindly approve the following external borrowings: Issuance of $2.5bn in International Capital Market through Eurobonds or a combination of Eurobonds and Diaspora bonds for the financing of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s 2017 Appropriation Act and capital expenditure projects in the Act.

"Issuance of Eurobond in the ICM and/or loans syndication by the banks in the sum of $3bn for refinancing of maturing domestic debts obligations of the Federal Government of Nigeria, while looking forward to the timely approval of the National Assembly to enable Nigerians to take advantage of these opportunities for funding."

According to the debt statistics published by the Debt Management Office on September 5, the nation's debt has risen by 61.96% since President Buhari was sworn in.