The board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the $3.4bn loan requested by Nigeria to help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
The IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, announced this in a tweet on Tuesday.
She said, “We support #Nigeria’s efforts to limit the effect of #COVID19 and the sharp fall of oil prices. The US$3.4 billion approved by our Board is the largest IMF COVID-19 emergency financing provided to-date. It will help Nigeria free up more resources to protect lives and livelihoods.”
An official statement from the IMF said the loan would help limit the decline in international reserves and provide financing to the budget for targeted and temporary spending increases aimed at containing and mitigating the economic impact of the pandemic and of the sharp fall in international oil prices.
IMF has also said that once the COVID-19 crisis passed, the focus should remain on medium-term macroeconomic stability, with revenue-based fiscal consolidation essential to keep Nigeria’s debt sustainable and create fiscal space for priority spending.
It said implementation of the reform priorities under the economic recovery and growth plan, particularly on power and governance, remains crucial to boost growth over the medium term.
