Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, says in two weeks, the World Bank board of directors would consider a loan of $2.25 billion for Nigeria.
On April 21, the minister had said the country qualified for the World Bank loan
of $2.25 billion, with a 1 percent interest rate.
Speaking during Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’
programme on on June 3, Edun said the country would receive part of the funding
soon.
“In two weeks’ time, the board of the World Bank will
consider a $2.25 billion package for Nigeria of, like I say, virtually free
money or almost grant funding,” he said.
Edun said the loan has a very low interest rate and is not
being given under conditionalities.
“A large part of it, $1.5 billion, is what they call
‘development policy operation’,” the minister said.
“Essentially, it is in recognition of what has been done to
stabilise the Nigerian economy and get it back on the path to growth and the
funding will come virtually immediately.
“At least, the one
part of it will come virtually immediately after that board meeting.”
He said the country is confident about and looking forward
to the disbursement of the loan.
According to the minister, this shows that “we know how to
use the multilateral development banks to our advantage”.
‘WHY MULTINATIONAL
FIRMS ARE LEAVING NIGERIA’
Speaking further, Edun said in the past, foreign companies
exited the country due to lack of access to a liquid foreign exchange (FX)
market.
“When we look at the economic climate, one of the major
drawback elements for them is that they did not have a liquid foreign exchange
market,” he said.
“The country
currently has a willing buyer-willing seller FX market.
“It is elevated, maybe it is not at levels we would like it
to be, but it is when you get the inflation down that you can stabilise the
exchange rate and even get it coming down — similarly with the interest rates.”
Edun said the fight for an improved environment for “big”
investors is ongoing.
The minister also said inflation as well as food prices are
projected to drop over the next few months.
In April, Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 33.69 percent —
from 33.20 percent in March.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), food
inflation rose by 15.92 percent points to 40.53 percent in April, compared to
the 24.61 percent in the corresponding period of 2023.
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