President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve a ₦1.15 trillion loan from the domestic debt market to close the funding gap in the ₦59.9 trillion 2025 budget.
The request was contained in a letter to the upper legislative chamber, which was read during Tuesday’s plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
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Tinubu explained that the proposed borrowing became necessary following a ₦5.25 trillion increase by the National Assembly in the 2025 budget, which expanded the spending plan from ₦49.74 trillion to ₦59.9 trillion, thereby creating an unfunded deficit of about ₦1.947 trillion.
The President wrote, “I write to kindly request the approval of the National Assembly to borrow ₦1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to close the unfunded deficit gap created by the increase in the budget size over and above the previously approved revenue and borrowing plans.
“This request is in line with Section 44 (1) & (2) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, which mandates National Assembly approval for all new government borrowings.
“The National Assembly passed a ₦59.9 trillion budget, representing an increase of ₦5.25 trillion over the ₦49.74 trillion earlier proposed by the Executive.
“This adjustment resulted in a budget deficit of ₦14 trillion, while the borrowing approved in the budget was ₦12.95 trillion, leaving an unfunded gap of ₦1.1 trillion.
“It is, therefore, necessary to raise the domestic borrowing limit in the 2025 budget by ₦1.147 trillion to close this shortfall.”
Following the presentation of the letter, the Senate referred the President’s request to its Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for further consideration and directed it to report back within one week.