Aduragbemi Omiyale
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The World Bank will most likely approve the loan request of $1.5 billion from Nigeria, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, has hinted.
Nigeria wants the credit facility from the global lender at a zero per cent interest rate to boost foreign exchange (FX) liquidity in the country.
The country’s currency, Naira, has come under pressure due to a shortage in forex supply in the system, weakening the domestic currency to a low of N1,050 in the parallel market.
Worried that the situation could eventually wreck the economy, the federal government is approaching the World Bank for assistance.
According to Mr Edun, the loan, to be sourced through the bank’s International Development Association (IDA), should be approved.
“Nigeria has been able to make the kind of macro-economic moves to take the tough decisions to restore balance in the economy in the government’s finances that have warranted support.
“This had engendered support from the multilateral development banks.
“It is on this basis that the World Bank is willing to consider and to process on our behalf $1.5 billion of concessional financing, relatively cheap financing and financing that will be dispersed relatively quickly,” the Minister told newsmen on Monday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.
Mr Edun, a former Commissioner for Finance in Lagos, said the main focus of yesterday’s FEC meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu was the current economic situation in the country.
He told State House Correspondents that the country was also planning to access $80 million from the African Development Bank for the Ekiti Knowledge Zone (EKZ) project aimed at empowering the youths in the sector of Knowledge Economy through technology and communications generally.
“This is basically to support young people and their quest to take on technology to use it to be employed to be trained and to benefit from being part of the knowledge economy.
“This is being part of the technological wave that is present very much in Nigeria, which is becoming a bigger and bigger share of the economy,” he said.
