Nigeria is set to receive a fresh $2.2 billion single-digit interest loan from the World Bank and another budget support facility from the African Development Bank, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Dr Wale Edun, has said.
Edun disclosed this during a press briefing at the just-ended Spring meetings of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, the United States.
According to the Minister, the facilities would see Nigeria’s foreign reserves rising by an appreciable volume which may spur the appetite of foreign investors.
He stated that the World Bank and other international development partners had assured Nigeria that the fresh $2.25b World Bank loan would be coming shortly.
Edun said: “We have qualified for the processing just this week to the Board of Directors of the World bank of a total package of $2.25 billion of what you can call ‘the closest you can get to a free lunch’- virtually a grant. It’s for about 10- 20 years moratorium and about 1% interest.”
“In addition, there is a similar budgetary support – low-interest funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and, clearly, there are ongoing discussions with foreign direct investors across many sectors”, he added.