The Enugu State House of Assembly on Monday approved the N170b loan requested by Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State to execute some major projects in the state.
The loan request was revealed in a letter read by the Speaker of the assembly, Uche Ugwu, on Monday during an emergency plenary in Enugu.
The Speaker said the loans, which would be sourced from the Fidelity and the Globus banks, would enable the state government to execute infrastructural projects in the state.
Ugwu gave a breakdown of the loan to include N100b Bank Guarantee Line (BGL), N10b Term Loan (TL), N10b Over Draft Facility from the Fidelity Bank and N50b Credit Facility from the Globus Bank.
He hinted that the BGL would serve as a guarantee payment for contracts issued to the contractors, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) and others for the execution of projects to be undertaken by the state government.
On the Term loan, the Speaker revealed that the loan had an interest rate of 22 percent per annum, which is subject to review in line with money market realities, adding that the repayment tenure is 48 months.
Ugwu pointed out that the Over Draft Facility loan would ensure prompt payment of workers’ salaries as well as sorting out other recurrent expenditures and had a repayment tenure of 12 months.
The speaker said the State Executive Council gave approval for the loans on October 6.
Contributing, the Minority leader of the House, Mr Iloabuchi Aniagu, commended the state governor for forwarding the loan request, which he said, was timely.
According to Aniagu, the loans will enable the state government to undertake developmental agenda for the good people of the state.