by Azeez Adeniyi

Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma has said the amount of money in the 2017 budget would determine the size of the loan that Nigeria will seek from the World Bank.

Udoma said this while answering questions from State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.

There had been reports that the World Bank will give Nigeria $2.5bn to be used to fund the 2017 budget.

But Udoma while fielding questions said the amount will be determined by the size of the budget.

“The figure will depend on the budget to be approved by the National Assembly,” he said.

He noted that the budget has a deficit due to funding constraints.

The minister said, “Because of the funding constraints, the budget has a deficit. I travelled with the Minister of Finance and the CBN governor to market our Eurobond.

“As you can see, the Eurobond was oversubscribed by over eighth times; so, the funds are coming in; there is more stability in the Niger-Delta, so more money is coming in.”

Azeez