The leadership of the House of Representatives on Sunday said Nigeria cannot fund its 2017 budget except from an external loan.

Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila said this in Abuja, while speaking on the activities of the legislature in the last 12 months.

Gbajabiamila said the country has to spend huge amount of money on the economy and invest heavily in infrastructure to exit recession.

He said loans from within and outside the country have to be sourced as Nigeria is currently experiencing scarcity of resources.

He further said the country was not making money like it used to.

He said, “Nigeria can’t do without borrowing, especially when you run a deficit budget.

“There is a lot we need money to spend on, but we are not making the money as before.

“The oil we rely on, has gone down. We must now go out and borrow.”

President Muhammadu Buhari had presented a N7.28trn budget to the National Assembly last week, with a deficit of N2.36trn.