President Muhammadu Buhari is seeking the approval of the National Assembly to revise the 2020-2022 Mid-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) and 2020 Appropriation Bill.
He is also seeking approval to borrow $5.513 billion dollars internationally, to finance the proposed revised budget. The request is contained in a communication from the President, read at an emergency session of the House of Representatives on Thursday.
In the letter, the President noted that the review of the above documents became necessary due to sharp cut in global oil price as well as a drop-in local oil production occasioned by the global COVID-19 pandemic. President Buhari disclosed that the Loan facilities running into billions of dollars is being arranged from four lenders.
His breakdown showed that 3.4 billion dollars will be sourced from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), 1.5 billion dollars from World Bank, 500 million dollars from the African Development Bank (ADB) and 113 million dollars from the Islamic Development Bank.
He added that apart from funding the revised 2020 budget, funds were also required for priority projects of Federal Government to address COIVID-19 pandemic challenges and improve Nigeria’s food security.