The Federal Government borrowed N1.83tn from the Central Bank of Nigeria through Ways and Means Advances in the first quarter of 2023,

This pushed its borrowing from the CBN to N25.36tn in March 2023 from N23.53tn in December 2022.

The figure was according to the provisional data from the apex bank through its quarterly statistical bulletin.

The Ways and Means Advances is a loan facility used by the central bank to finance the government in periods of temporary budget shortfalls, subject to limits imposed by law.

According to Section 38 of the CBN Act, 2007, the apex bank may grant temporary advances to the Federal Government with regard to temporary deficiency of budget revenue at such rate of interest as the bank may determine.