The minister of finance, budget and national planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed said yesterday that Nigeria would raise about $6.050 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to ease the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.
Ahmed who disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during a media briefing on the fiscal policy measures to tackle the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy said the fund was expected to come into the country within the next six to 12 weeks.
Giving a breakdown of the $6.9 billion, the finance minister said the sum of $3.4 billion would be sourced from the IMF, $2.5 billion from the World Bank and $1bn from the AfDB.
Out of the World Bank facility of $2.5 billion, Ahmed said the sum of $1.5 billion would go to the Federal Government while the balance of $1 billion would go to the 36 state governments.
She said the $3.4 billion from the IMF would not be tied to any conditionality, adding that so far, about 80 countries had applied for such funding facility.
“We are continuing our engagements with the World Bank, the AfDB, the IDB and the IMF to access concessional funding to support the implementation of the 2020 budget.
“We have also applied for funding from the IMF’s COVID-19 Rapid Credit Facility to draw from our existing holdings with the World Bank Group/IMF.
“This loan will not be tied to any conditionality. However, it is important to clarify that Nigeria does not intend to negotiate or enter into a formal programme with the IMF at this time or in the foreseeable future.
“Nigeria has a contribution of $3.4bn with the IMF and we are entitled to draw up to the whole of that $3.4bn. We have in the first instance applied for that maximum amount.
“We have requested from the World Bank $2.5bn, from the ADB $1bn. Let me state that the requests are for the nation, both for the FG and the states,” Ahmed stated.
