By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Federal government has so far funded key road projects totalling N362.557 billion in the country through Sukuk since 2017, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed has disclosed.
Speaking at the Symbolic Presentation of cheques to contractors handling the Sukuk road projects in Abuja on Thursday, the Minister said the disbursements were carried out through the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.
She noted that in view of the significant milestones recorded in the use of Sukuk funds to reconstruct and rehabilitate road infrastructure, the Government decided to incorporate other Ministries namely,
the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Ministries of Niger Delta Affairs and the Works and Housing with critical road projects into the Sukuk funding structure.
According to her, the three ministries will be sharing the Sukuk Issue Proceeds of N250 billion, which was successfully issued by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria on December 29, 2021.
A breakdown of the figure, she said, showed that Works and Housing received N210,565 billion; FCTA N29 billion and Niger Delta Affairs Ministry, N10,435 billion adding that the 2021 N250 billion will be released as part of the Capital Expenditure in the 2021 Appropriation Act.
The minister added that as at November 2021, N3.40 trillion had been expended for capital, which represents over 74% performance when compared to the total Capital Budget of N4.569 trillion.
“Out of the N3.40 trillion so released, N2.98 trillion represents 83% of the provision for MDAs’ capital, N369.9 billion for Multi- lateral/Bilateral Project-tied loans, and N49.52 billion as GOEs Capital Expenditure”, Ahmed said.
“The Government will continue to prioritize spending on critical infrastructure in
order to sustain the momentum on GDP growth. As you may be aware, the GDP is projected to grow by 4.20% in 2022. This can only be possible through steady increase in spending on critical infrastructure, such as roads.
“I wish to congratulate the DMO for the introduction of the Sovereign Sukuk and for the successes recorded in raising the funds through the product, which now stands at a total sum of N612.557 billion”, she added.
