The Federal Government has applied for a cumulative loan of about $150m from the National Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) to mitigate effects of COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, revealed this while speaking with journalists in Abuja.

The withdrawal would be made from the NSIA stabilization fund, according to her will help to augment disbursements to the three tiers of government by the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC).

She said: “Our experience shows that monthly average FAAC receipts should be at N650 billion to allow the federal and state governments meet their current obligations in a healthy manner.

“Unfortunately, we project that monthly receipts may decline to as low as N400 billion over the next three to six months. To address this emerging fiscal risks, the president has approved that the sum of $150 million be withdrawn from the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority stabilization fund to support the 2020 FAAC disbursements.

“The fund was created for such emergencies and is to be utilized for this purpose”.

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