The minister of finance, budget and national planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed has said that Nigeria was considered for the debt relief granted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to 25 countries because the , has explained why the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the country falls outside the status of the beneficiaries.
In her tweets @ZShamsuna, on Thursday, the minister explained that said the relief was meant for the “poorest and most vulnerable members (of the group) to cover part of their IMF debt obligations.”
The minister also disclosed that Nigeria does not owe the IMF, although the country has so far contributed $3.4 billion to the Fund.
“It is true Nigeria is not a beneficiary of the recent IMF debt relief for 25 countries.
“As indicated in IMF Executive Board statement, the relief ‘provides grants to our poorest & most vulnerable members to cover their IMF debt obligations for an initial phase over the next six months.
“Since Nigeria is not indebted to the IMF, there is no outstanding debt obligation to be forgiven,” she said.
Ahmed reiterated her recent statement on Nigeria’s application for new IMF financing that is currently under consideration.
The new application, she said, was for financing under the Rapid Financing Initiative (RFI), under which Nigeria, like other members, was entitled to access up to 100 per cent of its contribution quota.
It would be recalled that the IMF had recently approved $500 million to cancel six months of debt payments for 25 most impoverished countries to help them address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nineteen of the countries are in Africa. They are Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone and Togo.
The remaining ones outside Africa are Afghanistan, Haiti, Nepal, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, and Yemen.
The managing director of the Fund, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva in a statement said the executive board approved the immediate debt service relief for the countries under the Fund’s revamped Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT).
“This provides grants to our poorest and most vulnerable members to cover their IMF debt obligations for an initial phase over the next six months and will help them channel more of their scarce financial resources towards vital emergency medical and other relief efforts,” she said.
She said the money will come from the IMF’s CCRT which will use recent pledges of $185 million from the United Kingdom and $100 million from Japan.
She urged other donors to help replenish the trust’s resources.
