Nigeria’s Senate has given its nod to President Bola Tinubu’s request to borrow over $21 billion from external sources to bridge funding gaps in the proposed 2025 national budget, a top legislator confirmed on Tuesday.
The borrowing request, which Tinubu submitted to the National Assembly in May, received Senate approval after extensive deliberation. “With this approval we now have all revenue sources, including loans, in place to fully fund the budget,” said Senator Solomon Adeola, Chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, while addressing journalists.
The loan package includes €4 billion ($4.70 billion), ¥15 billion ($102.26 million), a $65 million grant, and an additional $2 billion in domestic, dollar-denominated borrowing. The funds are designated for key sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, education, security, and housing.
Notably, $3 billion of the total sum will be allocated to overhaul a 2,044-kilometre (1,270-mile) narrow-gauge railway along Nigeria’s eastern corridor—a critical transport route for economic development.
Since assuming office in 2023, President Tinubu has introduced sweeping economic reforms aimed at reviving growth. These include ending long-standing fuel subsidies and implementing a managed devaluation of the naira. While intended to strengthen macroeconomic fundamentals, the policies have instead contributed to surging inflation and a deepening cost-of-living crisis.
The borrowing plan underscores the Tinubu administration’s pivot toward fiscal expansion, even as the country grapples with limited domestic revenue and growing debt obligations.
The House of Representatives is expected to consider and approve the borrowing package on Wednesday.
Currency exchange rates (at time of reporting):
- $1 = €0.8515
- $1 = ¥146.6900
- $1 = ₦1,525.2700
