Nigerian parliament approves $2.39 bln supplementary budget

Nigeria's parliament passed a 982.729 billion naira ($2.39 billion) supplementary budget on Wednesday to fund COVID-19 vaccines and defence services. Parliament also approved the external borrowing of 6.183 billion dollars through issuance of a Eurobond.

Nigeria's parliament passed a 982.729 billion naira ($2.39 billion) supplementary budget on Wednesday to fund COVID-19 vaccines and defence services.

Parliament also approved the external borrowing of 6.183 billion dollars through issuance of a Eurobond. President Muhammadu Buhari had requested the funds to purchase COVID-19 vaccines, for which no provision was made in the 2021 budget approved in December.

The supplementary budget will also go towards the military at a time Nigeria faces rising insecurity - ranging from mass abductions at schools, kidnappings for ransom, armed conflict between herdsmen and farmers, armed robberies and various insurgencies in the north of the country. ($1 = 411.0000 naira)