The bill to increase the proportion of Ways and Means loans that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) can provide to the government was approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The upper chamber of the Nigerian legislature increased the government’s access to credit from the apex bank from 5% to 10%. Referred to as the Ways and Means, it is the short-term funding the Central Bank provides to the government to address its budget deficits.
To achieve this, the Senate modified the CBN Act to raise the overall CBN advances to the government. The proposed changes to the CBN Act were discussed in a plenary session on Wednesday during its initial reading.
Opeyemi Bamidele, the Leader of the Senate, stated that the executive bill, which was read for the first time on Wednesday, aims to allow the government to meet its current and future responsibilities and to cover budget shortfalls and other expenditures.
He added that the loans would provide quick funds to tackle budget deficits, support crucial government spending, and uphold financial market stability by avoiding government default on its responsibilities.
The amendment to the CBN Act was discussed in full session on Wednesday, progressed to the third reading, and was officially adopted. It is anticipated that President Bola Tinubu will approve the amended bill, thus enacting it into law.