President Muhammadu Buhari approved the N656 billion as a bridge financing facility for the 36 states, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed announced on Thursday at the NEC’s virtual meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister said that each state would receive N18.2 billion to allow governors to meet their financial obligations.
She revealed that the facility is being developed by the central bank of Nigeria, adding that the approved bridging facility of 656.112 billion naira will be disbursed in six installments over a six-month period to the states.
A total loan amount of 18.225 billion naira; for a period of 30 years and a moratorium of 2 years at an interest rate of 9%.
“The facility is used to help states pay off their previous federally guaranteed rescue facilities,” he said.
On July 15, the council received updates on the state budget support structure.
At this meeting, Ahmed informed NEC that deductions for reimbursement of previous bailout facilities will begin soon.
Subsequently, states requested additional support leading to the idea of bridging funding.
In July, the National Economic Council (NEC) said there was an agreement with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to start deductions from the $ 2.1 billion budget support structure that was granted to States by the federal government as of this month.