Senate approves $200m foreign loan for Lagos

The Senate on Wednesday,  approved $200m foreign loan being the third tranche of the $600m which Lagos State requested for from the World Bank through the Federal Government External Borrowing Plan packaged to span 2015 to 2017.

The loan, is a budget support facility under the World Bank Development Policy Operation, meant to finance deficits in the annual government budget thereby enhancing its capacity  to execute key projects.

President Muhammadu Buhari had through an executive communication on September 29 requested the senate approval for the loan which according to him,  would support Lagos to build systems and institutions to improve the quality of spending and strengthen investment climate while maintaining fiscal sustainability.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, consequently referred the request to the Senate ad-hoc Committee on Local and Foreign Debts on November 3 with a mandate to carry out necessary legislative action and report back in two weeks.

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya, while submitting the report on Wednesday, noted that Lagos and Edo were the only two states in Sub-Saharan Africa that had been able to meet the stringent conditions of the world bank to qualify for the DPO.

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