Lawmakers in the two chambers of the National Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill to increase the percentage of Ways and Means loans the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) can give to the Federal Government.
The Senate and the House of Representatives increased the credit facility that the Federal Government can get from the apex bank from 5% to 10% of the revenue of a fiscal year.
This comes in spite of protests by the opposition party members of the assemblies.
The Senate amended the CBN Act to allow the Central Bank of Nigeria to increase the total amount of advances (loans) provided to the Federal Government.
The Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, while speaking during plenary, said the executive bill, read for the first time on Wednesday, would allow the federal government to meet its immediate and future financial obligations.
He explained that the loans would provide immediate funds to address budget shortfalls, finance essential government expenditures, and help maintain financial market stability by preventing the government from defaulting on its obligations.
The lawmakers agreed that the margin of increase should be from 5% to 10%.
They said that while the increase is necessary for economic development, there should be adequate monitoring of capital projects to ensure that the funds are used exclusively for infrastructure and legacy projects.
After consideration in the Committee of the Whole, the executive bill scaled the third reading and was passed.
Similarly, legislators in the House of Representatives amended the CBN Act to raise Ways and Means from 5% to 10%.
The bill is expected to be signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in the coming days.
The Ways and Means facility allows the CBN to provide short-term financing to the Federal Government to address budget shortfalls.
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