Nigeria has asked the African Development Bank for a $1 billion loan to help fund an increased budget deficit, the bank said on Tuesday.
The bank said it was considering the loan to Nigeria where the drop in crude prices has hit growth and that an appraisal mission would visit soon to work with authorities, Reuters reported.
The government is planning to borrow as much as $5 billion to help fund a deficit due to the slump in global oil prices, which have also sent the country’s currency into a tailspin.
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said this week Nigeria had held exploratory talks with the World Bank and looked at options to borrow from the AFDB and China Exim Bank.
Earlier this month, she said that about $4 billion might come from international institutions and the remainder from eurobonds.
Nigeria expects a budget deficit of 3 trillion naira ($15 billion) in 2016, up from an initial 2.2 trillion naira ($11 billion) estimate.
-thenationonlineng.