Lagos, Nigeria — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) don announce say Nigeria don fully pay back the $3.4 billion wey dem borrow for April 2020. This money na financial support wey IMF give Nigeria under the Rapid Financing Instrument to help tackle wetin COVID-19 pandemic and oil price drop cause for di economy.
According to one IMF spokesperson wey talk to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday afternoon, as of April 30, 2025, Nigeria don clear di loan wey dem collect. Dis loan na part of di quick response to help countries wey dey face serious economic challenges. But, di spokesperson talk say Nigeria go still get some additional payment wey dem dey call Special Drawing Rights (SDR) charges of about $30 million every year.
“Nigeria go need to honor additional payments wey dey come as SDR charges wey dey around $30 million annually. Dis charges dey based on di difference between Nigeria’s SDR holdings and di total SDR allocation wey dem suppose get,” di spokesperson explain.
Di net payment of di charges go stop when Nigeria’s SDR holdings reach di total allocation amount, as per di IMF statement.
Moresh na say, according to investigation wey PUNCH do, Nigeria dey on track to fully repay di Rapid Financing Instrument loan by 2029. Di latest repayment schedule show sey di country don get approval for emergency financial support of 2.45 billion SDR, wey be about $3.32 billion as of May 1, 2025.
Dis RFI loan wey dem disbursed fully on April 30, 2020, help Nigeria balance di payments wey don dey urgent after COVID-19 pandemic bring plenty economic wahala, recession, and fiscal pressures.
Di repayment wey Nigeria dey plan carry out go last five years beginning from 2025 finish for 2029. For 2025, dem dey expect say Nigeria go pay back di final principal amount of 306.81 million SDR along with interest and charges of 22.81 million SDR, make di total repayment for dis year come reach 329.62 million SDR, wey be around $446.21 million.
From 2026 to 2029, di repayment go mainly be for charges and interest wey go dey around 26.7 million SDR each year, wey na about $36.14 million annually. In total, Nigeria go pay back around 436.42 million SDR wey mean $590.78 million in dollars.
For 2024, debt wey Nigeria dey service for IMF surge to $1.63 billion, all na principal repayments, without interest or other charges. Total external debt service come reach $4.66 billion, wey be increase from $3.5 billion in 2023. Out of dis, multilateral creditors account for 56 percent, wey na $2.62 billion.
Di quick approval and minimal conditions wey accompany di RFI loan make am different from di usual IMF arrangements wey dey involve plenty reforms. Despite how e be, di repayment responsibilities still dey intact, and na good sign for global investors and development partners if Nigeria fit clear di debt without needing any refinancing.
Since di time Nigeria take di loan, di economic landscape don change well. President Bola Tinubu’s government don start plenty reforms like unifying di exchange rates, removing petrol subsidies, and improving tax collections. All dis initiatives dey meant to boost fiscal stability and restore investor confidence.
E go make sense if we talk sey di World Bank don predict sey Nigeria economy go grow by 3.6 percent in 2025, which be small improvement over di IMF forecast of 3.0 percent. Even di inflation wey still get matter don reduce to 24.23 percent in March 2025 from di higher levels wey happen before.
As e stand, Nigeria no get any overdue financial obligations with di IMF, and di Fund don praise di country efforts to maintain economic stability, but dem still dey urge for more reforms to keep di momentum goin. Completing di repayments on schedule go improve Nigeria’s credit profile and access to international capital markets.
Even with all di improvements, challenges still dey. Global oil price fluctuations, local fiscal issues, and security challenges go fit affect di repayment if dem no handle am well. But with strong policy implementation and external support, Nigeria dey poised to finish di IMF loan obligations by 2029, wey go mark di end of one significant chapter for di country post-pandemic recovery.
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