The Federal Government on Monday confirmed the full repayment of the $3.4bn emergency loan secured from the International Monetary Fund at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.\n<\/p>\n
Briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council\u2019s 27th meeting at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said Nigeria\u2019s exit from the loan reinstates her fiscal credibility.\n<\/p>\n
He said the repayment, approved by President Bola Tinubu, addressed financial obligations inherited from previous administrations.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Tinubu believes that government is a continuum. In line with that philosophy, he gave clear instructions that Nigeria must exit the IMF facility. I am pleased to report that the $3.4bn debt has now been paid in full,\u201d Idris said.<\/p>\n
The repayment, he noted, is already yielding positive outcomes for the country\u2019s financial standing on the global stage.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis move boosts Nigeria\u2019s international credibility. It signals to investors that the country honours its debt commitments and strengthens our position in the global financial system,\u201d Idris added.\n<\/p>\n
Idris also addressed the scepticism that trailed the announcement in some quarters, assuring Nigerians that the repayment had been verified and completed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome have expressed doubt about this, but I can confirm that the payment has been made in full,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
Nigeria tapped the IMF\u2019s Rapid Financing Instrument for $3.4 billion in April 2020 to plug a COVID-19-era balance-of-payments gap and cushion the oil-price crash.\n<\/p>\n
The facility carried a three-quarter-year grace period, followed by eight equal quarterly repayments that had to be completed within five years. The principal was scheduled to start falling in Q3 2023 and be cleared by Q2 2025.\n<\/p>\n
Data from the Debt Management Office shows Nigeria honoured that timetable, returning $1.22bn to the Fund in the first nine months of\u202f2023, cutting the outstanding balance from $3.26bn in June\u202f2023 to US\u202f $1.16bn\u202f by March\u202f2024.\n<\/p>\n
By January\u202f2025, the stock had shrunk further to $472m, reflecting what the Finance Ministry called \u201cfront-loaded repayments made possible by improved oil receipts and tighter fiscal controls.\u201d <\/p>\n
On April 30,\u202f2025, the IMF confirmed that Nigeria had \u201cfully repaid the financial support\u201d\u2014one quarter ahead of the final maturity date, marking the country\u2019s first complete clearance of a multilateral emergency loan.\n<\/p>\n
While the principal is gone, Nigeria will keep remitting about $30m a year in Special Drawing Rights charges until 2029, and the Fund still accounted for $1.63bn (35 \u202fper cent) of Nigeria\u2019s\u202f$4.66bn foreign\u2011debt service bill in 2024.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Idris revealed that the Tinubu administration is encouraging greater private sector involvement in road construction and related infrastructure, responding to growing interest from non-governmental investors.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a notable appetite from private sector players to participate in infrastructure delivery, especially roads.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has now directed all relevant agencies to support and enable such participation. It\u2019s part of a broader push to diversify funding sources and drive economic development,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
However, the Council also raised alarm over the escalating theft of metallic components from bridges and manhole covers for resale.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder the cover of night, criminals are removing critical parts of public infrastructure and selling them to recyclers. This has become a troubling trend,\u201d Idris said.\n<\/p>\n
To combat this, President Tinubu has directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to examine existing laws and propose tougher penalties to deter infrastructure theft.\n<\/p>\n
Idris noted, \u201cThere are already laws in place, but the President has asked the Attorney-General to study them and recommend more stringent measures if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The information minister further hinted that FEC meetings will now occur more frequently to fast-track executive decision-making.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cCouncil will reconvene in two days to address pending matters. This is part of the President\u2019s strategy to clear long-standing issues and ensure a more responsive government,\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0concluded.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Federal Government on Monday confirmed the full repayment of the $3.4bn emergency loan secured from the International…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3090],"tags":[51,1700,45298,45299,10647,45300,45301,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-96908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-fec","11":"tag-fg","12":"tag-imf","13":"tag-imf-covid-19-loan","14":"tag-mohammed-idris","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114498200087649074","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}