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The Federal Government is set to receive additional $2.2 billion single-digit interest loan from the World bank while the African Development Bank is expected to provide another budget assistance facility.
This was revealed by Finance Minister Wale Edun at a news conference that concluded Nigeria's participation in the World Bank/IMF Spring Meeting in Washington, DC, USA.
Speaking about the sources of foreign finance for the Nigerian economy, Edun mentioned facilities provided by the World Bank and other international development partners, as well as remittances from the diaspora and foreign portfolio investments.
Acoording to him, “We have qualified for the processing just this week to the Board of Directors of the World bank of a total package of $2.25 billion of what you can call ‘the closest you can get to a free lunch’- virtually a grant. It’s for about 10- 20 years moratorium and about 1% interest.
“In addition, there is a similar budgetary support – low-interest funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and, clearly, there are ongoing discussions with foreign direct investors across many sectors.”
Edun added that issuing dollar-denominated securities specifically targeted at Nigerians in the diaspora and those with foreign-denominated savings in Nigeria would serve as another measure to attract forex inflows into the country.
According to the minister, the issuing of government securities at an interest rate closer to the CBN’s monetary policy rate is an indication of the collaboration between both sides of the economy in tackling inflation in the country and attracting forex inflows.
