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FG To Disburse N655bn Bridge Facility Loan To States
The Federal Government has begun the process of disbursing N655.11 billion Bridge Facility loan to states.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, informed the National Economic Council last Thursday, that the Bridge Facility loan is now being processed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to her, the loan will be disbursed in six tranches over six months to the states.
Each of the 36 states, the minister said, is expected to receive a total loan of N18.2bn, with a 30-year tenor, and a 2-year moratorium at an interest rate of nine per cent.
A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, also has it that the 36 states were to share the N656 billion new Federal Government support at N18b each.
According to the statement, the facility is to help the states afford the repayment of previous bailout facilities guaranteed for them by the Federal Government.
The Federal Executive Council had on July 15, received updates on the Budget Support Facility to states, where the Finance Minister had informed the Council that the deductions from state governments would commence soon as repayment for the previous bailout from the CBN.
Subsequently, the states sought further support leading to the idea of bridge financing.
Also speaking at the FEC meeting, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, informed the Council on the status of the country’s Covid-19 vaccine roll-out.
Shuaib disclosed that Nigeria had received over 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from COVAX, AfricanUnion and other countries, which he said were sufficient to ramp up vaccination for about 50 per cent of the targeted population.
“The total eligible population of Nigerians for the vaccine is over 111 million.
“Given the availability of vaccines, we have started rolling out a plan to vaccinate 50 percent of Nigerians, 18 years and above but January 31, 2022, there would be a scaling up of over 3,000 health facilities nationwide”, he said.
Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.
Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.
The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.
Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.
“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.
“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”
Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.
In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.
Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.
Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.