Nigeria is set to secure a loan from China to finance the 2016 budget, Reuters is reporting.
According the report, Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, and Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), are to visit China for the $2 billion loan.
The loan is aimed at the financing of budget 2016 with a record deficit of about N2.2 trillion.
According to Reuters, any loan agreed during Adeosun’s trip could be signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in Beijing by March.
“The finance minister, in the company of the central bank governor, is scheduled to be in China sometime next week to conclude negotiations on the $2 billion loan.
Hopefully it may be sorted out during this meeting and the loan will be signed during President Buhari’s visit to China in March this year, ” the official said.
Adeosun had earlier said the country was looking for a loan with about 1.5 percent interest. “We looked at our debt profile and we recognised that one big problem is interest rate. So, we are going to try and borrow as far as possible externally,” she said at a KPMG forum in Lagos.
“We are borrowing first of all at the cheapest rates. So, multilateral loans are the cheapest. “If someone offers me 1.5 per cent over 20 years, I think I should take it. So, that is why we are going to the multilateral agencies first and thereafter concessional borrowing and also tap into the Eurobond market.
“We are doing about N900 billion of the deficit in domestic and N900 billion in external borrowings. We are trying not to crowd out the private sector in the domestic debt market, that is why we are looking at external borrowings also.”
Meanwhile, the information communications and technology industry across the country are to enjoy tax holidays and special intervention funds from the federal government.
This is to enable them to meaningfully help government to realize the creation of three million jobs targeted by 2018.
The minister of communications, Adebayo Shittu, and Afolabi Imoukhuede, senior special adviser to the President on job creation/youth empowerment office of the Vice President, gave this hint when the Minister visited Yaba Technology Ecosystem Hubs in Lagos.
“As you all know, the ICT innovations is powering economies across the globe, creating employments and wealth. It is impacting on the way we live and the way we do businesses; the Buhari administration is at the forefront of diversifying our economy and he is resolved to develop the ICT sector through Local Content initiative. Government will support Yaba and all ICT hubs across the country because it is a veritable platform to achieve our ICT and job creations objective.
“We are going to replicate what is happening here in Yaba in other parts of the country in partnership with stakeholders. We are going to start in Ibadan and Katsina state in the next three months. Both the governors of Oyo and Katsina have agreed to provide facilities for the establishment of these hubs,” the said while expressing satisfaction at the infrastructures he saw.
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