The Federal Government has clarified that Nigeria will not benefit from the recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) debt relief for 25 countries.
This was contained in a statement by the Special Adviser, Media and Communication to the Finance Minister, Mr. Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, in Abuja on Thursday, April 16, 2020.
The statement quoted Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planing as saying, “It is true that Nigeria is not a beneficiary of the recent IMF debt relief for 25 countries.”
“This is because, as stated in the IMF Executive Board statement, the relief ‘provides grants to our poorest and most vulnerable members to cover their IMF debt obligations for an initial phase over the next six months…”
Since Nigeria, according to her, is not indebted to the IMF, there is no outstanding debt obligation to be forgiven.
Ahmed disclosed that Nigeria’s application for new IMF financing is under consideration and receiving attention.
“The new application is for financing under the Rapid Financing Initiative (RFI). It is a loan to be paid back. It is not an IMF program. Nigeria is entitled to access up to 100% of its quota under the RFI”, she said.
On the current financial position of the country with the IMF, the Minister added, “Nigeria’s current financial position at the IMF is public information on IMF website.”
The IMF on Tuesday listed 25 countries to get immediate debt relief under its Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, which has about $500 million in resources on hand.
The countries that would benefit from debt service relief are: Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, The Gambia and Guinea.
Others are Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Togo and Yemen.
