Marrakesh (Morocco), Oct. 15, 2023 – President Bola Tinubu will not go above statutory limits in obtaining budget support facilities from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the Ways and Means Advances.
Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said President Tinubu was committed to “keeping with the spirit and the letter” of the autonomy of the CBN.
Edun said this at the ongoing World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings holding in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Some financial experts had criticised former President Buhari for worsening the country’s debt burden by obtaining more than N22.7 trillion in Ways and Means Advances from the apex bank.
The Ways and Means system provides the thresholds for the government’s borrowing from the CBN.
Edun confirmed that the country was discussing with the World Bank for a 1.5 billion dollar budget support.
“The World Bank is the number one development bank that helps developing countries to fund their projects and programmes.
“We are happy that the funding will come in soon. World Bank money is the cheapest,” he said.
The minister said that the government was also concerned about financing.
“About one trillion dollars is needed to meet the target of climate change globally. This is a climate financing fund which is relatively cheap.
“There is also a commitment to help Africa and the third world with climate transition because they are not responsible for climate change in any substantial way.
“One of the ways to help them is through climate financing and we will be looking at green bonds and more climate financing options,” he said.
