Nigeria May Obtain $2 Billion Loan From China To Fund 2016 Budget

Reports say that Nigeria is seeking a $2billion loan from China to fund the 2016 budget.

According to a Reuters report, which quoted financial and government sources, the nation’s Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun, will travel to China next week to negotiate the loan to help fund the record budget spending.

The report also said Nigeria has shelved plans to meet investors about returning to commercial borrowing on the Eurobond market, and that any loan agreed during Mrs Adeosun’s trip could be signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in Beijing next month.

Nigeria wants to raise about $5 billion abroad to cover part of its 2016 budget deficit. This is projected to hit N3 trillion ($15 billion) due to heavy infrastructure spending at a time when the slump in global oil prices has slashed export revenues.

The president asked China last December to fund rail and power projects and Mrs Adeosun, who already visited Beijing last week, has raised the possibility of seeking a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China.

Nigeria had wanted to raise $1 billion from Eurobond investors but has dropped plans to sound them out at a non-deal “road show” which the Finance ministry had tentatively planned for March, financial sources say.