The loans are part of President Tinubuâs ongoing plans to stabilize Nigeriaâs economy, reposition it for growth, and provide quick support to the poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
The minister stated that the government is undertaking reforms to restore macroeconomic stability and contribute to sustainable and all-encompassing growth in Nigeria.
The minister first announced the governmentâs intentions for the loan in April at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
TimesNow.com.ng had reported that the World Bank would approve the loan this June to help Nigeria accelerate its economic recovery.
BusinessDay reports that Ousmane Diagana, the World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa, disclosed that Nigeriaâs comprehensive fiscal reforms are putting the country on a new path to stabilizing the economy and lifting people out of poverty.
Nigeria will receive the funding through two main development projects: The Nigeria Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformations (RESET) Development Policy Financing.
The RESET project is set to receive $1.5 billion in funding.
The second project, the NG Accelerating Resource Mobilization Reforms Programme for Results (ARMOR), will receive $750 million in funding.
Reports say that the World Bank supported Nigeriaâs multi-year effort to raise non-oil revenues and safeguard oil revenues to promote fiscal sustainability and sufficient resources to deliver public services.
The new loan will raise Nigeriaâs external debt stock, which is currently at $42.495 billion, according to data from the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The DMO data shows that the World Bank Group is Nigeriaâs biggest creditor, with about $15 billion in loans.
The current loan facility will also increase Nigeriaâs debt stock above the N97.34 trillion ($100 billion) threshold, which analysts say is too much for a country depending solely on oil as a significant revenue source.
TimesNow.com.ng previously reported that the latest data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that the Nigerian government had spent $2.19 billion to repay foreign debts to countries and financial institutions.
A breakdown of the data showed that the debt service payments were recorded from January to May 2024.
According to CBN data analysed by TimesNow.com.ng, the Tinubu-led administration spent $560.52 million on debt servicing in January 2024, significantly higher than the $112.35 million spent in January 2023.
Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at TimesNow.com.ng
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
