Tinubu’s Government Takes $4.1Bn Loan in One Year

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose administration will be a year old in a few days has got  a total of $4.1 billion loan

Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Available data showed that the federal government first took $1.95bn loan from World Bank.

The loans were $700m for education, $750m for power and $500m for women empowerment.

Also the at close of Nigeria’s activities at the World Bank/International Monetary Fund Spring meeting in Washington DC, the United States, this year, Wale Edun, minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, announced that the administration is expecting a fresh $2.2bn single-digit interest loan from the World Bank. This brings the total loan so far to $4.1Bn

Edun, said another budget support facility is expected to be disbursed by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

“We have qualified for the processing just this week to the Board of Directors of the World Bank of a total package of $2.25bn of what you can call ‘the closest you can get to a free lunch’; virtually a grant. It’s for about 10 to 20 years moratorium and about one per cent interest,” Edun said, adding “In addition, there is a similar budgetary support – low-interest funding – from the African Development Bank (AfDB).”

Recall that, on August 9, 2023, Tinubu inaugurated a tax committee with mandate to raise revenue because his government inherited a ‘bad government’ and he will not continue with the “circle of debt”.

Days later, Edun, also emphasised the President’s position on loans at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held on August 28, 2023.

He said, “The federal government is not in a position to borrow at this time. Rather, the emphasis has to be on creating a stable, macroeconomic environment, stable inflation, stable exchange rate, an environment within which people can come and invest and thereby increase production and further grow the economy.

“So that is the plan. That is the expectation and it is that there will not be a reliance on borrowing.”