Nigeria not indebted to IMF, finance minister clarifies

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and National Development, Zainab Ahmed, has explained that Nigeria was not listed among the countries receiving debt relief from the IMF this week because the country does not owe the fund any money.

In a series of Tweets, Mrs Ahmed explained that as Nigeria does not owe the IMF any money, it does not qualify for relief in debt repayments. 

“Since Nigeria is not indebted to the IMF, there is no outstanding debt obligation to be forgiven”, the minister posted. 

On the contrary, Nigeria has so far contributed $3.4 billion to the fund. 

The explanation follows the news earlier this week that the IMF was granting relief on debt repayments from 25 of the world’s poorest countries, including The Gambia, DRC and Mali. 

The relief is intended to allow countries to channel more of their financial resources into combating the coronavirus pandemic, rather than having to keep up with debt repayments. 

However, Nigeria has put in a request to the IMF for its Rapid Financing Initiative, which is available to all member states and entitles a country to 100% of its contribution quota. 

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, said “Nigeria needs all the support it can get, including debt relief, moratorium, and pardon in order to enable the country tide over the waves of COVID-19 pandemic”.  

Photo: IMF