President Bola Ahmed Tinubu don ask di Senate to approve fresh foreign borrowing of $7.7 billion, wey be like N10.79 trillion, to help pay part of di Federal Government 2026 budget deficit.
Di request dey inside one letter wey dem date October 26, 2026, and Senate President Godswill Akpabio read am during plenary.
Inside di letter, Tinubu ask make dem approve di Federal Government to raise N10,790,366,835,481 at di budget exchange rate of N1,409 to one US dollar.
When Akpabio react to di request, e talk say di new letter don effectively replace one earlier proposal wey ask for approval of $20.3 billion external borrowing.
"I believe dis letter effectively supersede di earlier request for 20.3 billion US dollars because di present request clear pass," e talk.
Di Senate President explain say di new proposal also recognize say di Federal Government no go necessarily collect di whole loan from one source.
"E also recognize say di borrowing no go necessarily come from one source. Di government go need to check di options wey dey available and secure di best possible terms under willing-seller, willing-buyer arrangement," Akpabio add.
Inside di letter, Tinubu recall say di 2026 Appropriation Act approve N29.2 trillion in new borrowing to finance budget deficit wey dem estimate around N31.4 trillion.
Di borrowing plan get N18.4 trillion domestic borrowing and N10.79 trillion external borrowing, and na di external part be di subject of di latest request.
Di President talk say di Federal Government plan to raise di $7.7 billion through one or combination of several financing options.
Dem include concessional and commercial loans from multilateral and bilateral institutions, di International Monetary Fund (IMF), bridge financing facilities, direct borrowing from international financial institutions and Eurobond issuance.
According to Tinubu, dem go pursue all di options wey dey available at di same time, considering dia costs, benefits and di time wey e go take to access di funds.
But e talk say dem go put more emphasis on Eurobond issuance because e dey generally faster to conclude and e fit raise larger amounts at relatively competitive costs.
