The Anambra State House of Assembly has approved N100 billion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), by Governor Chukwuma Soludo for infrastructure development in the state.
The loan was approved after the consideration and adoption of the report of the House Committee on Public Accounts during plenary on Thursday.
On July 5, Soludo had written to the assembly seeking the approval to secure N100 billion Global Limit Multiple Term Loan facility from CBN.
He said the loan was for the construction and refurbishment of key infrastructure in the state.
Mr Somto Udeze, member representing Ogbaru Constituency ll and chairman of the committee who presented the report said that the Commissioners for Finance and Economic Planning and Budget were invited for interaction on the terms of the loan facilities.
He added that the discussion was to ascertain the terms of the loan, monthly deductions, duration of the loan, the interest rate, project specifications and the current debt profile of the state.According to the lawnmower, the Committee was satisfied with the answers provided by the Commissioners.
According to him: “We observed that the N100 billion loan was strictly for the construction of roads, bridges and flyovers across the state.
“It was also observed that the current debt profile of the state at about N107 billion can still accommodate more of such loans considering the expected outcome and impact on the residents of the state.
“However, we recommended that the Commissioners should provide the list of the proposed project descriptions and expected cost of each project for ease of oversight function subsequently; and that was done so that the loan should be secured at single-digit interest rate and be used for feasible infrastructure development alone.
“We also recommend the need for increased internally generated revenue to minimise borrowing to fund Infrastructure development in the state”.
Some of lawmakers lamented that not all the 30 constituencies in the state were captured in the proposed infrastructure upgrade in the state.
But the Speaker of the House, Mr Uche Okafor commended the committee for thorough scrutiny of the loan request and it was passed through a voice vote whi was unanimous.
