FEDERAL GOVT TO BORROW N251B

MINISTERS will decide today whether the Federal government should borrow N251.6 billion to finance Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit.

The money will be sourced from the issuance of $1 billion Eurobond, $100 million diaspora bond and N80 billion FGN bonds through syndicated global depository notes.

The weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting will get the request for approval for these finances from the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in a memorandum which she will present to the council.

The minister said last week that the government planned “ to prioritise infrastructure investments and also to leverage additional external financing for infrastructure investments in the country”.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala explained that the government planned “to augment our domestic resources with a proposed $1 billion EuroBond as well as a Nigeria Diaspora Bond, which will harness savings from Nigerians abroad.”

These additional financial resources she said “will be invested in various infrastructure projects such as building the country’s gas to power infrastructure”.

The government, she added, plans “to use Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) aggressively, working with the Sovereign Wealth Fund which will attract co-investors from home and abroad, such as pension funds, institutional investors and so on” to finance infrastructure.

The government’s confidence is buoyed by the fact that “Nigeria’s domestic bonds have gained international prominence, and were recently included in the JP Morgan and Barclays Emerging Market indices”.

Budget 2013 has some important infrastructure projects in the transportation sector, such as the second Niger Bridge, which may also be financed with these funds.

Ratification of the President’s anticipatory approval for the selection of concessionaire/ developer for the reclamation and infrastructural development of FESTAC Phase II, Lagos (memorandum EC(2013)21 by minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development).

Other matters to be discussed at today’s FEC meeting are the “ review of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) scheme, which memorandum will be presented by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga.

Source: The Nation